possible lice (Silkie owners)

[mustangsaguaro]

I have a bearded silkie that I suspect has lice, not sure though. Right underneath her chin area on her feathers she has clumps of white things on her feathers. Is this lice? I am able to pull these clumps off w/ ease. Not of my other birds are affected. I really don't ever see this silkie dust herself. Because silkies have different feathering are they more prone to lice especially under there chins. I did take some DE and dust her lightly. Anything else I should do?

Thanks
Kim

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

I would guess lice. My silkies had it this past summer. I dusted once with 5% sevin, and the next day all the lice were gone. Then I redusted 7 days later. I havent had a problem since. I would do the sevin to treat the lice. DE is more of a preventative.

 

[mustangsaguaro]

Quote:
I know DE doesn't have any chemicals in it, whereas Sevin does. I won't put any chemicals on or give any chemicals (i.e wormers) to my animals (be it chickens, horses, cats, dogs, etc). Is there something more natural that I can use besides the Sevin. That's why I used the DE cause I know that is more natural.

 

[danischi24]

If you want your animals to be healthy & pest free, they need treatment with the correct products. It is far more harmful to them being covered in lice than having lice killing medicine applied. When it comes to our animal's health & well-being, we as animal owners need to put our personal feelings aside. They are not living naturally as they don't have huge territories to roam therefore they cannot be expected to deal with parasites the way wild birds do. If you are very keen about doing things naturally, look for products that cause minimum harm to the environment.

 

[swtangel321]

Quote:
I think what you are talking about is dryed up mud or something. I know what you are talking about. Ive seen it and pulled it off also. (saw it mostly in the warmer weather) Is it cold where you are ?? When you pick it off its kind of dusty ? And I dont think that is mites (not saying your silkie doesnt have mits/lice) The best place to look for mites is under the wing, you can see them sometimes.

 

[silkiechicken]

Check the rest of the body for mites too. I have had mites on the beard feathers before, however, they didn't just come off, they required some picking and pulling to remove.

DE can be a preventative for small infestations, as it doesn't do much otherwise, but if you do have an all out outbreak, best to treat quickly, and then use DE later as a preventative.

 

[Mrs MIA]

Those white clumps are the eggs (nits) of lice. I just treated my broody silkie for them. I put a couple of drops of Ivomec (pour-on for cattle/pigs) one on the base of her tail and one on the back of her neck. The next day I picked her up and fluffed her over a sheet of newspaper, and the lice just rained down... dead. I'll treat her again once a week for the next couple of weeks to make sure I get any lice that may hatch, and I gently pulled or clipped off most of the clumps that I found.