Lice problem?

[agemme12]

Hi everyone. So i have 6 adult birds and currently 17 week old birds (separated for now) and Next week we have 12 5 week olds arriving. So Before we had our babies our adult birds had chicken lice. I think was about a year or so ago. Weve had these birds for about 5 years now. Lost a few originals to hawks. Anyway so we let our adult birds free range in our yard, and they go into the woods behind their coop sometimes as well. We live in the country area and we get wild turkeys come by among other animals. So last time the adults had lice i gave them a bath in dawn and then got all the eggs off, luckily they werent too stuck on. Im super frustrated because I was about to combine the adults with the 17 week olds so we can prep for the 5 week olds. We let them into each others area for a few hours then i noticed the adult birds going crazy pecking their own feathers. Picked one up and she was loaded with live lice and they had eggs ont heir shafts. All adults except one had lice. I took them out washed again even the one that didnt and reseparated the babies. I put the newly cleaned birds in a mobile run so I could full clean and disinfect their part of the coop. I then went and examined every one of the 18 new birds and dusted them with some DE and then put them in another mobile coop. I cleaned everything and replaced everything did it with a fine tooth comb. I know I have to check the adults in about 10 days and repeat the process. I apologize for the book but honestly every person I have spoken to said they never have this issue. I can ay we clean these coops and runs every week. I don't understand how the adults keep getting it. Is it because we let them free range? Im nervous now to combine them with the babies. Also this time around the eggs are stuck to the shaft and wont seem to come off . How do I get them all off?

 

[coach723]

You need to use a product containing permethrin, and you will need to treat both the birds and the coop at least 3 times at weekly intervals. That's the only way to get rid of the eggs that continue to hatch. Dispose of all bedding/nesting material (burn it if you can) and treat the entire coop getting into all the nooks and crannies. For the birds you can use a spray or a poultry powder. You can also use Elector PSP (available on Amazon) and get it done in one treatment, but the Elector is substantially more expensive than the permethrin products.
https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/

 

[agemme12]

Ok thank you! So if I got the permitheran to treat the coop and flock, should i go ahead and treat the 17 week old birds as well as precaution? None of them have started laying yet but im assuming they will in a few weeks... also is this something if treated with that I can't eat the eggs for certain amount of time? We sell our eggs and eat them as well.

 

[coach723]

If the 17 week olds are housed separately and you see no signs on them then no need to treat. There is no specified withdrawl period for permethrin. Some studies have shown some residue in eggs, I will attach one link with more info. I've never worried about it.
https://blog.cacklehatchery.com/is-permethrin-a-safe-treatment-for-poultry-lice-and-mites/

 

[agemme12]

Thanks. So after i treat the adults and clean their coop. When is it safe to combine the adults with the babies? We have 12 more 5 weeks olds coming in a few weeks that ill have to make a place for then move into one of the coops we have.

 

[coach723]

I think I would do at least two treatments to birds and coop before bringing in anyone new, maybe three if I was still seeing them a lot.

 

[LaurelRidgeDreams]

I’ve had chickens for 10 years and just had a horrible infestation of lice. I carefully sprayed my chickens with permethrin and cut off some of the feathers with nits and pulled some off. I repeated the process 10 days later. Chicken lice live on the chicken. I don’t think the life span of lice off the host is very long. So far our chickens are lice free. From what I’ve read free range chickens can pick lice up from the environment. This freaked me out so much I’ll probably catch and check each chicken once a month from now to the end of timePermethrin spray works.