Organic method for treating chicken lice?

[phasian]

I am in the "organic camp" and don't have my flock overrun with parasites. I do dose their water monthly with garlic, apple cider vinegar daily, and molasses weekly (unless it's very cold and then I do it daily in place of vinegar).

What I find very effective is using aromatic herbs in my bedding as well as in the dust baths. Lavender, mint, rosemary, oregano, thyme, etc., all of these herbs are easy for me to grow and work well at naturally repelling external parasites. Pennyroyal is only a danger to pregnant women if they ingest it, not from inhalation, so it should be fine for poultry. It grows naturally on the banks of the Willamette River where we have large populations of waterfowl. I don't use DE since if it's not safe for a large mammal like me to breath, I don't think it is healthful for my birds to breath.

To remove nits, olive oil works well to break down the "glue" that attaches them to the feathers. Coconut oil also works but can be challenging to work with since it is solid at room temperature.

While one chemical solution to pests may seem rather mild, we live on a planet that is exposed to a vast array of chemicals from our air, water, and soil. One "harmless"chemical can become deadly when combined with other agents. Who knows how any of these products interact and what their true toll will be.......

 

[CaliBlueChicken]

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No offense, but Honestly, it may just be what you determine as 'creepy-crawly'. Some people consider having chemical pesticides all over their coop, chickens, eggs, hands and shoes JUST as creepy crawly. I never understood how pouring pesticides around one's house and property to exterminate all the tiny living things was considered any better. Yuck!

I see a search for "natural" methods to be one where you don't have pesticide residues (which are proven poisons); you deal with the insect pest; AND you set up an ecology which continually deters the pest. It has been shown, in certain instances, that killing off ALL the pests can sometimes set you up for an ongoing or worse pest problem because you've killed off all the natural predators of that pest. Ecologies are complex systems.

Very ture Chickenannie, You can do the same thing if you garden. You create a little circle of life

It's all about balance.

 

[CaliBlueChicken]

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Great info!

 

[azhenhouse]

DAWG53, Thanks for the link to the picture of lice and mites.

 

[Davaroo]

You could just rub em down with kerosene.

 

[CaliBlueChicken]

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hehehe... hmm

 

[Davaroo]

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hehehe... hmm

Well its what they used to do....

 

[Davidisinaband]

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hehehe... hmm

Well its what they used to do....

Just don't smoke.. The last thing you need is a flaming chicken running around catching everything on fire!!

 

[Davaroo]

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Well its what they used to do....

Just don't smoke.. The last thing you need is a flaming chicken running around catching everything on fire!!

Well, there IS that. We like controlled applications in the pest control business!

I personally consider kerosene "organic," although it isn't what we modern folk think of in that sense. We tend to denounce anything to do with the petroleum business as evil. One can make a case for kerosene being at least "natural," though. It comes out of the ground, after all. It is also little processed, other than heating, with few additives.
It could be remembered, too, that the basic things derived from petroleum have been around longer than we have. Before we heard the words "smog," "OPEC," and "climate change," kerosene was tested by our grandfathers in many ways and found useful.

A lot of people will go on about petrochemicals being carcinogenic, and in large or accumulated doses, they may be. Bad news for your average lab rat.
But for a chicken with lice, a few kerosene applications, to both itself and its surroundings, has been a long time method of taming parasitic pests.
It lingers long enough to have its effect, and then dissipates. A periodic application of it in the crevices and crannies where the chicken lice hide has also been recommended for a very long time.

One might also consider the use of old fashioned whitewash, too, otherwise known as 'slaked lime'. Not on the chickens, of course, but the list of things it controls inside the chicken house is long. That might make another, interesting thread.

 

[dawg53]

We used to rub kerosene on our lower legs, ankles and waistline to prevent chiggers/redbugs from getting under our skin before walking in the woods...it works.