Natural pest control question

[HeatherLynn]

Ok I have been reading posts and thinking that I don't want to mess with this whole lice and mites thing. Not at all. Ok so my questions is can I use tea tree oil or other essential oils as a preventative. Mist them with it.

The reason I ask is tea tree oil is very effective on lice. Not sure on mites but I don't see why it would not be. It works on humans better than chemicals.

My kids came home with them one time from a play date. Uggg so after burning a few things, washing everything in hot water. and coating their heads for 8 hours in olive oil and tea tree oil we never saw any again. As a prevenative now I spray the kids with tea tree oil when they go to on play dates, scout meetings, ect. Yes I am paranoid but they are just ucky. So can I do the same kind of thing for the chickens? Its a light misting of tea tree not a soaking their feathers in it or anything. A mist not a soaking!! Can i also mist their bedding or just stick with DE?

 

[WhetzelMomma]

Tea Tree oil is not a lice preventative. I don know that it is in something you can buy to make picking stop for chicks, so I'm sure it's safe to use if you end up with a lice issue. Diatomaceous earth is a natural bug getter for chickens. I use it in my chicken's bedding. No bugs so far!

 

[HeatherLynn]

aww so its not good for chicken lice too. dang it. I like multi purposing. I am just looking to make sure I never have to deal with the problem EVER. I get the itches from an ant crawling on me. I am just thinking ahead of problems to save myself a bit of time.