Organic method for treating chicken lice?

[aquariansun]

but now that i think about it...that's not necessarily true here in mexico...because my in-laws have told me that when they had chickens many years ago, they had infestations in which they themselves got affected by the lice- itchy bites, etc. might have been another, tropical species.

 

[CaliBlueChicken]

Oh I am glad you saved this post! I just found lice on one of my hens, which I think explains my roosters droopy comb and some other hens not so interested in thier food. But I am not so much looking forward to the process as I have a lot of chickens to treat now. Should I change the coop bedding and put down some DE? Oiy, this is begining to overwhelm me thinking about it eeek!

 

[CaliBlueChicken]

Does anyone know if I can use Palmolive instead of Dawn? (and have it work) I also have sea salt and alot of epsom salt, will these work and are they safe for chickens?

 

[CaliBlueChicken]

Woo Hoo! Thank you chickenannie this works! The fleas were dead! Even the ones I pulled out of the feathers were lifeless.

I changed the reciepe half way through to save time and I was dealing with my wilder chickens towards the end. I just combined the salt water and soapy water. I did also use 2 cups of vinager in my salt water mix. When I got lice when I was little my mom soaked my head in vineger water to loosen the lice and nits. I also used about 20 drops of peppermint oil in the soapy water, I had heard someone used bronners peppermint castille <spelling? soap so I made my own

Second treatment in 7-10 days

Thanks again, just posting the things that I did so that maybe it can help someone else.

 

[plecostrum]

We dont have Dawn is it just common dishwashing liquid we have fairy! Lolol in the uk that is!!

 

[CaliBlueChicken]

Quote:
Hello plecostrum, I think that any dish soap should work. The fleas and lice cannot swim in soapy water they sink to the bottom. You can test this by getting a clear glass, fill it with water and dish soap and then put a flea in it, the more they struggle the more they sink. Here is a link to my post, all inspired by chickenannie https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=380228 best of luck!

 

[guinea fowl galore]

Actually this would work without the salt and dawn. It would help but it's not necessary.

Lice drown.

So if you just hold the chicken under the water and rub your fingers through it's feathers to make sure there are no air pockets then the lice will die anyway.
That way is COMPLETELY chemical free

That's how you get rid of lice in kids hair too. We tried soooooo many treatments and shampoos but figured that just holding their hair under water for 10 minutes works the best.

 

[dottysfarm]

Thank you all SO much for posting these organic methods! I was really starting to lose hope of finding people with organic advice!!! Maybe we can get the moderators to start an organic link under which we can place out organic methods???? I have become so weary of people hounding those posting asking for organic methods.

Anyway, I had mites on one of my birdies and I put coconut and tea tree oil on her. Next day mites were gone.

 

[al6517]

I can't help but chime in here, although it appears that you think you have found some wonder cure and many folks are now trying this which is great. But what you and the others fail to realize or think about is where did they come from, So unless you find a real solution to rid your entire chicken area of all lice & mites, you will end up do this bathing thing 6-7 times a year per chicken forever. You must always treat the area at the same time or you are just asking for the cycle to continue. Think of it this way so now you have a nice smelling clean hen and a coop/run/yard full lice/mites just waiting for their egg's to hatch on that very same hen in a few day's

AL

 

[CaliBlueChicken]

Yes you must also clean and treat coop and areas. In my old post that I shared I used DE, since then I have also added Oragne Guard which works great, I also spray it around my own house for pests. I also sprayed some organic oils around the coop and area that I knew bugs didn't like as a repellant. Great info on the 10min under water guinea fowl galore. I knew the lice drown, I was just going off my experience with flea's, once when I was little the cat's and dog got fleas and we would hold them under soapy water to drown them, if there were no soap the fleas would jump out soap helped them sink and drown.