Lice -- what's worked well for you?

[slg]

Ugh.

Trying to figure out the best non-toxic way to get rid of them -- dusting of DE? a bath with Dawn? What's worked well for you?

If we go down the toxic route, what do you recommend? what's impact on eggs? how long do you usually wait?

And not sure about mites -- will try again tonight to check.

Absolute wealth of info here -- thanks in advance!

 

[fordmommy]

I used to stuff specifically for chickens and chicken lice from Fleet Farm. However, it is a pesticide. But worked GREAT! No harmful effects here.

 

[Bridget399]

My vet prescribed Frontline spray, showed me where to spray it (under the wings, above the vent and behind the comb) and told me that mites occur in nature and that I will most likely always have them in my coop. He said the best thing to do is to keep them off the birds, and by using the spray on all the chickens every three months that I really shouldn't have any problems. The eggs are safe to eat, too!

He continued to tell me that his coop has concrete floors, cement block walls, and metal nesting boxes and that if he doesn't use the spray every three months, he will start to find mites on his chickens... My chickens are now mite free!

I don't know if this would work on mites, though, but maybe this will give you something to try.

 

[meadrian]

DE's good for prevention only. When mine had lice I dusted them in Poultry Dust. Two days after there were no lice on any of them. But I had to repeat in 7 days to make sure we got any eggs the lice laid. I like to go organic, but when they had them I didn't want to mess around, they can get sick. No ill affects on my birds and haven't seen any since. It worked great for me.