Mites and Lice

[cornbread940]

I need a good but safe remedy for getting rid of mites and lice from my chickens and chicks. any suggestions?

 

[Linda Fox-Gibbs]

Diatomaceous earth, FOOD GRADE only. You can get it at the feed store and it is really inexpensive. There is lot's of info on this site that can tell you how to use it. 5% added to their feed and you can add it to their dusting box if you have one. Sprinkle it in the nest box when you clean and add straw on top of that. Sprinkle it on their poop and the flies will dissapear! It's good stuff!
Linda

 

[Saltysteele]

anyone know if TSC has it?

just checked my turkey chicks, and sure enough the little bast****s are there in force around their vents

they're in with my little chickens, so i'm sure they've got it also.


i'll look it up, but what is this stuff and how does it work to rid them of the parasites? does it kill, or just repel. do you use it heavily, just a light sprinkling, or what?

 

[dawg53]

I recommend sevin dust; as recommended by the avian experts at OSU, here's the link.
http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html

 

[darkmatter]

Put fresh Juniper greens in the nest boxes. (I use gloves and pull off a bucket full to distribute in the boxes) Provide a dust bath area with wood ashes. (I use an old tractor tire filled with creek sand mixed with wood ash from my woodstove, I heat with wood)

 

[Tvanbui]

A couple of days ago, I found a raw open sore on my broody hen and looked closer to find she was being eaten alive by mites.
Her nest was also covered with mites!
I took her out and literally packed her up with DE everywhere. I also dusted the nest with DE. Within an hour, her sore dried up, and I couldnt find any more of the creepy crawlies. I checked today and no mites to be seen. I guessed it did a pretty good job.
Good luck.

 

[Saltysteele]

i'm kind of surprised by the use of seven dust on the birds..... like i said, i found adult lice on my turkey poults today, so have been doing some research. i'd like to use the DE method, as i'm still uncomfortable with the use of seven directly on the birds, but as an example of what i found, take a peek at http://ucanr.org/freepubs/docs/8162.pdf by University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Communication Services, the last 3 paragraphs on page 5.


i've found people on the net saying "don't do it, you're crazy to use it on your animals," but then I find more stuff like this PDF than those saying "don't"

 

[welasharon]

I bought DE and was greatly disappointed. You will get a lot of opinions on here about how/whether it works. I prefer ivomewc pour on and dust in the premises. If they are small chicks I use the dust on them too instead of the ivomec because they are easy to dust. Whatever you choose make sure you check to see it does work. They will kill chickens after some time. The one thing I do like about the seven is that they drop dead off the bird on contact with the dust. I find that very satisfying.....
sharon

 

[Saltysteele]

Quote:
this made me chuckle

i too, find that kind of thing satisfying

my poults are approx a month or so old, so not that large, and the chickens are only slightly larger. i will probably be going the plastic bag route for the birds themselves, and maybe a dusting pan in their run. i'll clean the coop out and spray (i think you can mix it in water, if not, i'll check to see if my bifen IT is okay to use (Bifenthrin- 7.9% synthetic pyrethroid). once dry, it is supposed to be safe to touch. new bedding, then some seven in that, as well. once i get this under control, i may switch to the DE

my larger chickens, though (3 hens, 1 rooster and a banty), are going to be a different story. they're sussex, and are pretty dang big. they're in a different enclosure, though, maybe they won't be as bad.

 

[welasharon]

For my grown ones I put the seven in a pillowcase and put the bird in there all but the head (careful they will try to pull their head in, course my are polish so that's another matter!) and then I fluff the powder around the bird and underneath the bodies and the wings.
sharon