Lice Problem

[misshilton88]

Hey all

I have a lovely Salmon Flaveral Bantam Hen...she never roosts instread choosing to sleep in the egg box bit of the coop. Ever since I had her she seems to constantly be infested with lice (i have check it out and they are def not mite or anything else) . I constantly treat her feathers with diatomaceous earth and she is regulary washed in walm water with teatree oil in it (this is brilliant for getting them the lice to jump ship).

I have a small flock of 9differnt bantums but the salmon flaverall is the only one with lice. Im starting to loose the will with the critters now...why is it only the salmon flaveral affected?? Short of plucking her entially what do I Do. Does anyone have any other ideas that could help??

Danni x

 

[BeccaSmith]

I used DE once and it didn't do a thing for killing the lice. I then used Poultry Dust and watched the lice literally drop dead. I think DE is more of a slow kill and not an immediate thing. I have also read that Seven dust will work as well, although it is not labeled for Poultry. Not sure why she is the only one that is infested.

 

[klmclain1]

DE will NOT kill lice or mites. I have my doubts as to whether it even discourages them. You need to dust all your chickens in Sevin, clean out all their bedding and dust the coop being sure to get into the crevices, then lightly dust the bedding when you replace it. REPEAT the whole thing in 10 days. Regardless that you're not seeing the lice on your others, if just one gets by, the whole cycle will start again. Be thorough and be diligent. The lice will kill your girl if you don't take care of the problem.

 

[misshilton88]

Will useing sevin affect the eggs? Ie will you still be able to eat them once the sevin has been applied?

Ta Danny

 

[BeccaSmith]

I thought I read that if you use Seven or Poultry Dust not to put it in areas were it will get on the eggs, but I know that the nest boxes need to be treated for lice. Perhaps someone who has used Seven can let us know if there is a withholding period, but if it just put on the hens I wouldn't think you would need to worry about withholding since it isn't absorbed into their system. I personally did not apply the Poultry Dust to my nesting boxes, only to the chickens. I did however spray a permethrin spray in the nesting boxes and coop and let it dry and then added fresh bedding material for the nesting boxes and coop.

 

[misshilton88]

Col thankyou thats good advice. Does anyone here know where i can buy Sevin in the uk??

Danny