my chickens have lice!! help?!

[Lillichloe]

help! how do I get rid of lice on my chickens?! I looked over the chickens that squat for me when I approach them but never look at their vent (idk know why? cause it seems gross and weird) . They are 7 months old and haven't started laying eggs yet (most of them) so I thought I'd look at their vent. Well I saw lice crawling around their vent area no feathers missing yet. one was noticeably worse than the other that I saw lice on. What do I do?!
We've been eating the eggs from the ones that are laying, so I hope that is an ok thing to be doing

 

[justplainbatty]

help! how do I get rid of lice on my chickens?! I looked over the chickens that squat for me when I approach them but never look at their vent (idk know why? cause it seems gross and weird) . They are 7 months old and haven't started laying eggs yet (most of them) so I thought I'd look at their vent. Well I saw lice crawling around their vent area no feathers missing yet. one was noticeably worse than the other that I saw lice on. What do I do?!
We've been eating the eggs from the ones that are laying, so I hope that is an ok thing to be doing

the eggs from the hens are ok to eat. Clean out your coop thoroughly, dust floors, crevices, nest boxes with sevin dust (poultry dust) dust every chicken with the dust, right down to the skin especially around vent, under wings and the head. Be careful not to get the dust in their eyes nose or mouths. Repeat the whole process in 7 to 10 days.Check all birds every couple of days after to make sure lice are gone. You cannot get lice from your birds (just in case you were worried). Good luck!

 

[Kzdnae]

the eggs from the hens are ok to eat. Clean out your coop thoroughly, dust floors, crevices, nest boxes with sevin dust (poultry dust) dust every chicken with the dust, right down to the skin especially around vent, under wings and the head. Be careful not to get the dust in their eyes nose or mouths. Repeat the whole process in 7 to 10 days.Check all birds every couple of days after to make sure lice are gone. You cannot get lice from your birds (just in case you were worried). Good luck!

So after I’ve dusted chickens with 7 dust, won’t they get it in their mouths and eyes when they preen?

 

[Folly's place]

Don't use carbaryl, use permethrin instead. The permethrin spray is easiest and very inexpensive, and approved for use on chickens with no egg withdrawal period.
Carbaryl is off the list of approved products for chickens, so best avoided.
Spray everyone at night, while they are roosting. Get out there with a flashlight, gloves and mask on, and do the birds. Also spray the coop, walls, roosts, floor everything. Probably plan to repeat in ten days or so, at least.
Bugs happen! I'm mostly dealing with mites here, not lice, but it's the same story either way.
Mary