Lice won't go away...suggestions?

[squig2]

I have used poultry dust in the pen and a dose of ivermec inj in water can do at same time i have also used frontline a tiny bit on head and a tiny bit around vent (Make sure you do not spray on vent) but i wait about 2-3 weeks after the iver. The frontline is long lasting and strong so be careful. I would repeat with the ivermec again aprox 2-3 wks after frontline give a dose of vita electro and probiotic after each treatment. After these repeated doses you can add oregano to their diet to help as a preventative. hope that helps

 

[seminolewind]

Sevin is the best and cheapest. Just dust everything including egg nests. Then you Have to follow up a few weeks later. Then every few months. I don't think they ever go away, it's more like keeping them under control.

 

[Arielle]

I have used poultry dust in the pen and a dose of ivermec inj in water can do at same time i have also used frontline a tiny bit on head and a tiny bit around vent (Make sure you do not spray on vent) but i wait about 2-3 weeks after the iver. The frontline is long lasting and strong so be careful. I would repeat with the ivermec again aprox 2-3 wks after frontline give a dose of vita electro and probiotic after each treatment. After these repeated doses you can add oregano to their diet to help as a preventative. hope that helps

Oregano-- dried or fresh? How much? Once a week , everyday??

 

[squig2]

I use dried, mix a little right in with their food ben, watch for the poops, if they get the poops, it will need to be adjusted. You will have to use your judgement on how you will want to feed it to them. I have also done where i just sprinkled a little tiny bit in the feed dish a couple times a week. A little goes a long ways.

 

[Arielle]

I use dried, mix a little right in with their food ben, watch for the poops, if they get the poops, it will need to be adjusted. You will have to use your judgement on how you will want to feed it to them. I have also done where i just sprinkled a little tiny bit in the feed dish a couple times a week. A little goes a long ways.

Thank you for sharing. ALways looking for preventative that is non-phamracuitical based and save the big guns for when they are needed. THank you.

 

[FarmingForFun]

I would suggest trying the homeopathic route. My chickens got mites and fleas this year and I wanted to use some less harsh treatments the common homeopathic remedies are to finely chop an herb such as thyme or rosemary, or you can just use dried and sprinkle it in their bedding. This remedy will drive them out of the bedding. To get them off the chickens a common remedy is to chop up garlic (between one and four cloves depending on the tolerance of the chickens) and mix it with a 1/4 cup of olive oil and let steep in the sun for about three hours then mix that with 1 cup of scratch and 2 cups of laying crumbles. It sounds like an old wives tale but the olfactory system of the parasites cannot handle the strong scent. The garlic will have little to no effect on your egg flavor, and your chickens will no doubt appreciate the ease of this treatment!

 

[psycoforsilkies]

Sevin dust is the way to go you will se the nasty little buggers falling of like dandruff, but it kills them off, we also got the liquid sevin and sprayed down the coop got rid off all shaving took them away very far. redust in 7 days incase nits hatch. an if you need wash with puppy flea tick shampoo. works great. i put sevin in a pillow case put bird in bag with head out of course and shake gently rub it in. Sprayed with the head with the puppy flea and tick spray.

 

[Arielle]

I would suggest trying the homeopathic route. My chickens got mites and fleas this year and I wanted to use some less harsh treatments the common homeopathic remedies are to finely chop an herb such as thyme or rosemary, or you can just use dried and sprinkle it in their bedding. This remedy will drive them out of the bedding. To get them off the chickens a common remedy is to chop up garlic (between one and four cloves depending on the tolerance of the chickens) and mix it with a 1/4 cup of olive oil and let steep in the sun for about three hours then mix that with 1 cup of scratch and 2 cups of laying crumbles. It sounds like an old wives tale but the olfactory system of the parasites cannot handle the strong scent. The garlic will have little to no effect on your egg flavor, and your chickens will no doubt appreciate the ease of this treatment!

I can certainly do this. A local store carries pt size containers of peeled garlic. I use lots of it for me as it is good for my own health. Where do the parasites go? THese must live on the birds. Is it better to kill off the bugs and use garlic as a prevention?

I have been randomly picking up birds to see who has these pests. Some of the birds have no sign of the bugs, others are crawling with them. I do like having easy calm birds that allow me to pick them up as I'm walking by and check their status. The benefit of the dual purpose chicken.

 

[BeccaSmith]

I first tried DE as a dust, it did absolutely nothing, so I don't think dusting the nesting boxes would do any good either. I have a huge bag of it now that I don't know what to do with. I ended up buying Prozap Garden and Poultry Dust and I couldn't believe how many lice fell off of one of my hens. I still see her scratching around her neck and head and digging in her feathers so I know they are not completely gone. I read that the egg incubation time could be anywhere from 4 to 7 days for lice, so I would think 10 days would be a little long, wouldn't that allow more eggs to be laid by the lice? I was going to try Seven but the employees freaked when I told them I read on here to use Seven on chickens and that they would never apply it. I have read multiple sources, in Universities that specialize in Poultry recommend the Seven, funny how the people at my local store have never heard of nor would they use Seven on their chickens.

 

[FarmingForFun]

I believe that once the parasites leave the bedding and birds they tend to die off (especially if it is cold) or find other wild hosts. After I give my birds and their boxes the treatment I dust the ground in the run with Sevin. Sevin is the best for killing the parasites...I just don't like the thought of it being applied where my chickens lay their eggs or directly on the chickens. I would say try the homeopathic remedy and fallow up with a good dusting of sevin on the ground to take care of any stragglers and/or eggs. Also in the summer time you can switch from putting thyme or rosemary in their bedding to mint which works just as well and provides a nice cooling sensation for you chickens

!