Poultry lice treatment advice

[Sarahs Hens]

I found poultry lice on one of my chickens. They only appear to be near her vent feathers but there are clumps of eggs. Reading the advice here, it seems I should treat the whole flock (I only have 3) and coop with Permethrin to be safe. I have three questions (so far):

1. How does this stuff work? Is it on contact or do they crawl over it. I know I have to cover the whole chicken, but if I miss a small spot, are the lice still likely to die if they crawl accross a treated spot?

2. How can I soften and remove the egg clusters without giving her a bath? I'd like to avoid a wet chicken if possible. They are too close to her skin to snip the feathers.

3. One of the chickens is a very skittish Ancona. I've never actually held her. Some of the advice here suggests to get them at night when they go to roost. But, it's getting into the 40s here at night. That doesn't seem like a good situation to spray down a chicken. I'd ideally like to catch her in the afternoon so the spray has time to dry. Any advice on how to go about this? I know there's dusting powder as well but that just seems like a huge mess.

 

[cmom]

I have posted this previously. This will work for both lice and mites. I had some birds that were severely infested. I thought they were just molting but weren't getting their feathers back in when I discovered they had mites. The first thing I tried was DE. The birds weren't improving and still had mites. I first discovered them in only one coop but eventually found them on birds in another coop. I dusted the birds and the coops with the DE and no improvement. I did use some sevin dust that I had but it was almost gone but it did help. I did some research and came up with permethrin. It works for both lice and mites. There is no egg withdrawal period with permethrin. Wild birds and rodents can bring the mites and other pests in if they have access to their coop. I used the dust on the birds and in their nest boxes and sprayed inside of the coops, every crack and crevice, on and under the roosts, ceiling, walls, floors, anywhere the mites can hide. Nothing will kill the mite eggs so repeated (3 or 4) weekly treatments are necessary. Wear special clothing including a mask and gloves. I did a weekly spraying for awhile and put permethrin dust in the nest boxes, originally sprayed the birds getting under the wings and worked it through their feathers with gloves which you can also do with the dust. It will take a few weekly applications. Slowly my birds began to recover and get their feathers back in. I think if I hadn't treated with the permethrin when I did I probably would have lost some birds to the mites. The birds were in bad condition. I did originally bathe the worst birds with flea shampoo which did help but did not get rid of the mites but then discovered that the over the counter (OTC) head lice shampoo for people. Every over-the-counter (OTC) treatment of head lice contains either pyrethrins (Rid or Triple X) or permethrin (Nix). Both are effective treatment. Both only kill live pests, not the mite or lice eggs eggs. Good luck...

 

[cmom]

 

[cmom]

Some pet shampoos also have permerthrin in them or pyrethroid.
https://www.amazon.com/Permethrin-shampoo-dogs/s?k=Permethrin+shampoo+for+dogs

 

[blacklab]

We hatched our 6 from eggs and they are not with any other chickens. they are in a covered run at all times. We dust with DE in run and also include it in their feed. Will we have to worry about lice/mites? I can't bear the thought!!!

 

[Sarahs Hens]

Thank you @cmom for the information! I appreciate you taking the time to write that - no doubt it will be a great resource for others.

I was hoping someone could answer my specific questions from the post though?

 

[cmom]

Sorry I couldn't be a help to you. Permethrin works by contact, it affects the nervous system in insects, causing muscle spasms, paralysis and death. If you spray your coop well, everywhere, every crack and crevice and do it weekly for awhile it will kill the pests and the pests eggs as they hatch out. I used a comb to get the eggs out of the feathers. I also put the poultry dust in the nest boxes. Some people put the dust in a bag and put the chicken in the bag with it's head sticking out and coating the bird with the dust that way. I have both sprayed my birds and have dusted them. I don't suggest spraying the birds late in the day if you're going to spray them. Again, good luck...