Licein chicks

[Fferwm3]

Hiya!
I have just discovered we have lice in the coop. They seem.to come back every summer after a week or so of hot weather. I normally get the powder and the spray you use for your home whe. Your cat got fleas. (Recommended by my vet) but I normally spray the coop when the chickens are out. Now I have 2 hens that are trying to hatch some eggs and one has successfully so far hatched one chick. It's 3 days old today. How can I treat the chick? And can I still spraybthe coop with the chickens inside? Thank you!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't know what the medicine is in that powder or spray. I don't like to give suggestions when I don't know what you are working with.

My first thought is to call the vet and ask.

I discussed this with a poultry science professor that specialized in disease, parasites, and treatments. He said that roost mites kill more broody hens than anything else. This was about the time Sevin was banned in the USA. I won't get into the details but he had been successfully using Sevin to treat mites and lice on broody hens and chicks. He had no problems using it on baby chicks, it could save their lives. But there were other approved pesticides and he suggested using an approved one to treat the hens, chicks, nests, and coop.

Your vet should know how safe that specific medicine is. I don't.

 

[Muser]

I am not a vet so don't take my word for it as what you should or shouldnt do but I will share my experience.

I too had a broody hen with lice, tried to treat her with Diotemacious earth, mite powder and sprays before giving her eggs to hatch but without success. She hatched out the babies and they had the lice pretty quickly too due to the close contact.

The rest of my flock had them too and so I decided to use Ivermectin on my birds, after a few days of success and seeing less of the lice on them, I decided to treat the broody hen only (not the babies as it would be too strong a medicine for them). She's responded really well and because the lice are feeding on her too, they are dying off so I haven't seen any on the chicks after a few days either.

Ivermectin is available in the UK at a reasonable cost but it is not certified for use in poultry so be aware of this. Egg withdrawal is to be expected for around 10 days or more depending on the dosage required for your birds (sizing affects dosage).

If you have a vet that deals with poultry, maybe ask for advice on Ivermectin dosage. It has worked great for me so far.