Parasites!! Help me!

[21henmom]

I have been watching this hen for a while. Today I rinsed her vent area and I found evidence of some kind of parasitic infestation! Please see the attached photo. I will probably need to treat everyone but I'm not sure what to use. Thank you!!

 

[Kris5902]

I hate lice! I’ve never seen such large egg clusters. What I hate the most is when they run up your arms when you’re trying to dust the chicken. Permethrin, or if you can get it, carbaryl (next to impossible to find, not approved for use in Canada anymore, I don’t know about the USA...) kills the little buggers like nobody’s business! And you’ll have to repeat the treatment (to kill the newly hatched ones) in I think it is a week?

 

[Eggcessive]

Yes, those are lice eggs. If you part feathers, you will usually see them scurrying off. Permethrin 10 concentrate mixed with water 37 ml per gallon of water is good and safe to use once, and again in 10 days to get the newly hatched lice before they lay eggs. Treat the coop, nests, and roosts as well after removing the bedding. You may also use Ivermectin Pour-on 0.1 ml per pound put on the back of the neck along the spine, and repeat in 14 days. Ivermectin is not an approved drug for chickens.

 

[Eggcessive]

Yes you spray it directly on the area where the lice are. You can also use permethrin garden dust on the birds instead, but if it is warm enough, the spray goes farther and will treat the coop. There is no egg withdrawal with permethrin.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Ewwwwww.... That's a bummer. I'm sorry.

But more that you know what it is, you can treat it! Permethrin, as @sylviethecochin and @Kris5902 said. I bought some recently @ TSC. You'll have to treat all your birds and clean out the coop and spray it, too. All the info is on the bottle.

 

[sylviethecochin]

Looks like lice. Permethrin spray is usually the recommended treatment.

 

[sylviethecochin]

I must be blind... I’m not seeing them. Are they nasty little red crawling things you can see with the naked eye? Looks like she has some encrusted poop on the base of the feathers to me? Are there any other symptoms?

The stuff at the base of the feathers is lice eggs.

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is the smallest bottle which will make many gallons. It can be used in a spray bottle on chickens and in a garden sprayer in the coop.
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/gordons-permethrin-10-livestock-and-premise-spray-8-oz

 

[Eggcessive]

This article is very good with pictures, medications, how often to treat, etc:
https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8162.pdf

And this one as well:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/

 

[cleoandtheflock]

@Eggcessive @casportpony @Wyorp Rock