Lice

[Chickenbesties]

Yes, although I think one does get it for the garden as well, and I don't know if thats different or not.
One has to thoroughly dust the chickens with it, and then repeat after week, you can also clean out the coop and dust it in the cracks.

Okay thank you I will try this.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

They free range in the day and are in a large coop at night. The bedding is straw. I live in canada and from googling what to do with lice the only thing I could get without a vet is diatomaceous earth food grade. I rubbed it under their wings outside and then did that again 10 days later. I also cleaned the entire coop both times.

I agree with @Sussex19 it would be a good idea to find a permethrin based dust or spray to treat your birds and their housing.

Unfortunately, DE is not an effective treatment for an infestation.
Being in Canada, you may have a harder time finding products. I'm not that familiar with what you have available to you.

Not trying to point you in another direction - we always try to help folks find a solution no matter what section of BYC you're one, but the Folks on the Canada thread may be able to point you to products in your area. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/canadians-check-in-here.144/page-567

 

[NestingMillenial]

Would sulfur work? (Asking because it sounds likely that garden sulfur would be easy to find almost anywhere, maybe?)

 

[Crazy_Beautiful]

Yes, although I think one does get it for the garden as well, and I don't know if thats different or not.
One has to thoroughly dust the chickens with it, and then repeat after week, you can also clean out the coop and dust it in the cracks.

Stalking the post.
Currently treating my flock for lice. Of my 12 I only saw lice on 4 of them. I treated all with a pyrethrin garden powder. Clean out my coop. Sprayed it down with a permerthrin spray and put some of the powder in the nest boxes and under the roosting bar. Do I need to do the coop again when i treat the birds again?.. is it 7 days or 10 days?

 

[PeckerHeadRanch]

I use food grade D.E. but I’m not having much success either. I might try this Pyrethrin since according to the interwebs it is derived from a flower. Make sure you try the organic version because it looks like the scientists thought a synthetic version would be just as safe... unfortunately they were wrong.


FROM THE WEBS:
The pyrethrins are a class of organic compounds normally derived from the Chrysanthemum flower (mums) have potent insecticidal activity by targeting the nervous systems of insects. Pyrethrin naturally occurs in chrysanthemum flowers and is often considered an organic insecticide when it is not combined with piperonyl butoxide or other synthetic adjuvants.[1] Their insecticidal and insect-repellent properties have been known and used for thousands of years.

Pyrethrin is most commonly used as an insecticide and has been used for this purpose since the 1900s.[17] In the 1800s, it was known as "Persian powder", "Persian pellitory", and "zacherlin". Pyrethrins delay the closure of voltage-gated sodium channels in the nerve cells of insects, resulting in repeated and extended nerve firings. This hyperexcitation causes the death of the insect due to loss of motor coordination and paralysis.[18] Resistance to pyrethrin has been bypassed by pairing the insecticide with synthetic synergists such as piperonyl butoxide. Together, these two compounds prevent detoxification in the insect, ensuring insect death.[19] Synergists make pyrethrin more effective, allowing lower doses to be effective. Pyrethrins are effective insecticides because they selectively target insects rather than mammals due to higher insect nerve sensitivity, smaller insect body size, lower mammalian skin absorption, and more efficient mammalian hepatic metabolism.[20]

Although pyrethrin is a potent insecticide, it also functions as an insect repellent at lower concentrations. Observations in food establishments demonstrate that flies are not immediately killed, but are found more often on windowsills or near doorways. This suggests, due to the low dosage applied, that insects are driven to leave the area before dying.[21] Because of their insecticide and insect repellent effect, pyrethrins have been very successful in reducing insect pest populations that affect humans, crops, livestock, and pets, such as ants, spiders, and lice, as well as potentially disease-carrying mosquitoes, fleas, and ticks.

 

[Sussex19]

Do I need to do the coop again when i treat the birds again?.. is it 7 days or 10 days?

I think so, but I didn't and it seemed to still work, as I haven't seen any more lice.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Stalking the post.
Currently treating my flock for lice. Of my 12 I only saw lice on 4 of them. I treated all with a pyrethrin garden powder. Clean out my coop. Sprayed it down with a permerthrin spray and put some of the powder in the nest boxes and under the roosting bar. Do I need to do the coop again when i treat the birds again?.. is it 7 days or 10 days?

For lice you'd want to repeat in 7 days.