Lice

[barredbeans7]

My chicken has lice will it transfer to me or my cat? Also I have ten chickens and they seem to get lots of parasites...would reducing my flock to my favorite 5 help.

 

[Judy]

No, they won't live on you or your cat, though they might jump on you at times. You need to dust your birds, and their nests and roosts and coop floor with 5% Sevin dust. Repeat in 10 days to kill mite or lice hatchlings as the Sevin doesn't kill the eggs. Get some on the underside of the roost -- maybe moisten a bit and smear it there. I don't see how changing your flock size will make much difference. Many wild birds are carriers and can drop them onto yours just flying over.

 

[Trefoil]

I'm not sure reducing the size of your flock would make any difference. Using pour on invermectin will kill any bloodsucking parasites and worm them as well. There are some worms it doesn't affect, so shouldn't be your only defense though. If you can, empty out your coop and clean and disinfect it. Try putting a thin layer of DE on the floor before bedding it down and then sprinkle DE on top of the bedding, it won't hurt the chickens. Do this just after treating your chickens-so they don't just reinfect your coop. Keeping your chickens parasite free is an ongoing effort but if you can break the cycle going into winter( if it gets cold where you live) it puts you a step ahead.

 

[barredbeans7]

are there external worms ( please tell me no....i don't want to have to worry about something else)