Hello all,
I have had my chickens for a while now --the one in question for two years and the addition of two more approximately 1 year ago. Recently I noticed poop accumulating on my chickens butt, I took it upon myself today to check things out and give her butt a bath to see what was goign on....this is when i noticed trillions of lice eggs around the vent on the shaft of her feathers.
After doing a little research it would seem that lice is not that uncommon...but my question is..WHERE DID IT COME FROM??? i have not made any additions to my small flock and nothing obvious has changed. Also, finding things to treat the lice with is not as easy as one might assume. I read everything from Sevin Dust, to python dust, to DE ~ Its all very confusing. I even had someone tell me they were surprised my chicken wasn't dead yet
DEAD YET???? He said he has had chickens for years and never ever heard of such a thing.
Unfortunately I had to go with what I could find in my area which was the python dust (and i wont be surprised if THAT kills her seeing as its for livestock... the big kind!) ~ but I diluted it with the DE. Cleaned out the coop--hosed it down and sprinkled a little python dust in there. Also slightly treated their favorite "dust bath" site in hopes of preventing further spread. Now I know that if one has it they all do, but honestly treating her was a nightmare and she is the tame one. Am I using too much? What if i'm not using enough. I've read that the lice only live on the host so I'm hoping that will work in my favor.
But to have a chicken die of simple lice just seems silly to me....but at this point who knows what is going to happen.
Any advice or thoughts would be welcome.
Thanks.
Karen
I have had my chickens for a while now --the one in question for two years and the addition of two more approximately 1 year ago. Recently I noticed poop accumulating on my chickens butt, I took it upon myself today to check things out and give her butt a bath to see what was goign on....this is when i noticed trillions of lice eggs around the vent on the shaft of her feathers.
After doing a little research it would seem that lice is not that uncommon...but my question is..WHERE DID IT COME FROM??? i have not made any additions to my small flock and nothing obvious has changed. Also, finding things to treat the lice with is not as easy as one might assume. I read everything from Sevin Dust, to python dust, to DE ~ Its all very confusing. I even had someone tell me they were surprised my chicken wasn't dead yet
Unfortunately I had to go with what I could find in my area which was the python dust (and i wont be surprised if THAT kills her seeing as its for livestock... the big kind!) ~ but I diluted it with the DE. Cleaned out the coop--hosed it down and sprinkled a little python dust in there. Also slightly treated their favorite "dust bath" site in hopes of preventing further spread. Now I know that if one has it they all do, but honestly treating her was a nightmare and she is the tame one. Am I using too much? What if i'm not using enough. I've read that the lice only live on the host so I'm hoping that will work in my favor.
But to have a chicken die of simple lice just seems silly to me....but at this point who knows what is going to happen.
Any advice or thoughts would be welcome.
Karen