Lice

[Jenbirdee]

 

[pennyJo1960]

Welcome Back, We also have a state thread.

 

[KtheChickenGal]

I have a lice problem, I have 35 chickens and the first four out of seven I’ve checked are all infested. What’s the best course of action? Their coop is a 10x12 shed and they have a dirt floor outdoor run. I’m in Washington State where the ground is wet so they don’t have many places to dust at the moment. Ideas?

Welcome to BYC! Ah, sorry to hear about the lice! Looks like @Debbie292d already gave you some great advice!

 

[CoachTrish1]

I have a lice problem, I have 35 chickens and the first four out of seven I’ve checked are all infested. What’s the best course of action? Their coop is a 10x12 shed and they have a dirt floor outdoor run. I’m in Washington State where the ground is wet so they don’t have many places to dust at the moment. Ideas?

I am in Ontario Canada with snow on the ground so also no outdoor places to dust. However we bought a rubber water trough from a feed store and filled it with sand before the ground froze. It is in their coop. We add play sand from Home Depot if it gets low. We have 64 chickens and put some diatomaceous earth mixed in with the sand bath. Hope that helps.

 

[petdoc]

I have a lice problem, I have 35 chickens and the first four out of seven I’ve checked are all infested. What’s the best course of action? Their coop is a 10x12 shed and they have a dirt floor outdoor run. I’m in Washington State where the ground is wet so they don’t have many places to dust at the moment. Ideas?

Use 2 drops 0.1 ml of dog bravecto or spray frontline under wing’s weekly neither are licensed for birds but completely safe and effective

 

[Sea Wolf]

I have a lice problem, I have 35 chickens and the first four out of seven I’ve checked are all infested. What’s the best course of action? Their coop is a 10x12 shed and they have a dirt floor outdoor run. I’m in Washington State where the ground is wet so they don’t have many places to dust at the moment. Ideas?

Welcome and an update on your lice issue would be helpful. You want to kill them, not make them uncomfortable. PERMETHRIN is the only safe thing to use on them. Diatomacious Earth has been show to kill your chickens if they breathe it in and it really does not do what people tout that it does. They are only repeating what they were told by someone else or read somewhere. Dusting them with it puts it the air and they will get it into their lungs. When they preen, their head is all through their feathers and they are inhaling it. Just don't use it. Your problem is now so you will need to dust them with it. Work it all through the feathers to the skin and get around the head and neck too.. Clean out the coop and dust the new shavings with it. Clean out the nest boxes and again, powder everything. This will knock them down quite a bit if not eliminate them. Permethrin is absolutely safe for birds. When things warm up, get a bottle of the permethrin liquid concentrate. Farm stores will have it with the horse stuff. I buy a 30% concentrate but a 10% bottle is common. There are directions on how to dilute it for various things (including treating your outside clothing to kill ticks that get on you). There is a dilution for lice and mites on birds. I make this up in a 5 gallon bucket and, one by one, dunk each bird and get them completely wet with it. I turn them loose to run off and dry themselves. I do this once a year and have never had lice or mites. I also strip the coop and put the same dilution in a garden sprayer and spray the entire inner surface of the coop and floor. Every crack and crevice gets wet with it and allowed to dry. Once a year, that's it.

 

[Debbie292d]

I am in Ontario Canada with snow on the ground so also no outdoor places to dust. However we bought a rubber water trough from a feed store and filled it with sand before the ground froze. It is in their coop. We add play sand from Home Depot if it gets low. We have 64 chickens and put some diatomaceous earth mixed in with the sand bath. Hope that helps.

I hope the sand works for you. Maybe if they have no other choice, it will. We had one of those green plastic turtles we filled with sand and they didn't use it. That's in summer though when there are all kinds of flower beds to dig in.

 

[Debbie292d]

Diatomacious Earth has been show to kill your chickens if they breathe it in and it really does not do what people tout that it does. They are only repeating what they were told by someone else or read somewhere.

Not true, but you can have that opinion.

 

[Clucktown]

Elector PSP. One and done. No withdrawal. Safe for chickens.

https://www.bing.com/videos/rivervi...BE6AEF438364F821598DBE6AEF438364F82&FORM=VIRE