poultry mites or lice --something unseen crawling on us! HELP

[ivan3]

The mites and lice shouldn't be a problem for most folks. Now, if we were in the Southwest instead of MO. the legs of our bed would be anchored in coffee cans full of water to prevent our being overrun by hard biting chicken bedbugs...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=154384&p=1

 

[posey]

Dogs can get mites too that's what causes mange. When we moved into this old house in February my darling nonsense came down with mange. I was horrified. I did not want to treat him with chemicals and found a more natural treatment that I found to be very effective.

And just to let you know I got the mites on me and they did decide to stay on my upper back. I couldn't believe it.

Here is what we did and it worked for both doggy and me:

Shower with a soap with an essential oil such as peppermint or lavender. Dr Bonner's is the brand that we use and we get it at Whole Foods, Trader Joes, or most health food stores.

Towel dry and then get back in the shower and sponge on the following liquid that you mixed before showering:
1 cup of hydrogen peroxide
3 Tablespoons of Borax (you know the 20 mule team laundry stuff)
Stir well until the hydrogen peroxide has become saturated with the borax. You may still see borax floating around and that's okay. Then just before using add 2 cups of water and stir well. I used a sponge to apply this to myself paying particular attention to the areas that are the most itchy.

Allow to air dry on your skin. Sit down read a book or magazine and be glad it's summer and not the middle of winter. Then get dressed.

Do this once a week for 1 month.

In between, you can reapply the mixture with a spray bottle to the itchy areas as needed but allow to air dry.

No toxic poisons no harsh chemicals. The only thing is I wouldn't put it on my hair because the peroxide will lighten it. My dog is black and white and for a while he was brown and really white. It grew out and he is fine.

My itching is gone too.

Just something to try if you are in to natural remmedies.

Hope this helps,
Posey

 

[Quack and Cheep]

How long should it take for mites or lice to go after treating them?

How can I tell the difference between lice and mites?

Why is the DE food grade that I am using not getting results? Someone said it is because DE will not kill lice but I'm all out of ideas until I go for the frontline spray!

I dusted every bird individually yesterday with a citronella based dust bath, it was the strongest thing I could find to beat the little critters with, but I'm wondering if I'm wasting my time and money with this as today they seem out in force!

I have endlessly cleaned the coups and sprayed them with smite poultry spray. I have even removed all the bedding and replaced it with shredded paper temporarily so that I can clean it daily really thoroughly. I have DE everywhere for them to bathe in but the crawley little blighters are in my hair and crawling over me every time I go near my chickens, I can't seem to get them out of the back of my head just above the neck, it's really itchy, I've tried malaseb shampoo, conditioner to suffocate the little beggars and even nit lotion.

These are tiny grey things that crawl really fast.

Anyone any ideas please?