Scared of Sevin Dust ~ help with fleas needed fast!!!

[RuffTuffCreampuff]

When you are putting out either the D.E. (in the past) and the Seven dust are you cutting and raking the grass first? We have five acres so raking is kinda out of the question, but have to use a mower with a grassbag.....but anywhoo, the shorter grass helps because you get better exposure to the fleas.

I have never used 7dust on my chickens, but my PaPa used to use it on his chickens...he was a big believer in 7dust.

I have been in animal rescue for about 15 years, and several years back the area I am in had an plague of fleas. My vet ask me to help an lady that rescued cats, she was in poor health due to an injury and was overwhelmed. When I went to her house I noticed her cats had no fleas, most of them were outside too. I ask her about it, and she said she sprayed her yard once a week with Pinesol. She said she hasn't seen a fleas in years. I never tried it, because I heard that Pinesol was toxic to dogs....when it was wet. Read in a pet magizine, that when using it to mop floors, to make sure the floors are dry before allowing pets. This lady however, never had a problem with any of her animals being sick.

You might also putting sulpher down on your and your neighbors yard. BTW, on the D.E it works better on breaking the cycle of fleas, because it is most effective on the flea in the larvea stage of the flea's lifecycle. By time they are adults their exoskelton is too hard for D.E. to have an effect.

Good luck

Pam

 

[RuffTuffCreampuff]

Quote:
I have never used Dawn to spray the yard, but use Ivory Dishwashing Soap to bath my dogs and cats in.....it's the lanolin that actually what kills the fleas, it smothers the little monsters. It really works, I just live it on the dog for about 5 to 10 mins. It does nothing to keep them from coming back on the animal, but I have never really noticed flea sprays working that great on keeping them off for the two weeks they claim on the label. Plus it's non toxic.

Pam

 

[SportTees]

Quote:
I got fleas really bad in the carpet from a rescue dog one year and trust me treat the house very well so you don't have that problem. I finally got tired of it and just pulled up the carpet.

Remember the treat your furniture too. Sprinkling Borax or carpet flea treatment under the couch cushions.

Sounds like you have the coop under control.

You will never have the yard under control with 15 dogs next door. There is a pill you can give dogs that protects them from fleas for a month. Maybe you could sneak and feed the neighbors dog that. It works great if they are really infested.

 

[SportTees]

I have never used Dawn to spray the yard, but use Ivory Dishwashing Soap to bath my dogs and cats in.....it's the lanolin that actually what kills the fleas, it smothers the little monsters. It really works, I just live it on the dog for about 5 to 10 mins. It does nothing to keep them from coming back on the animal, but I have never really noticed flea sprays working that great on keeping them off for the two weeks they claim on the label. Plus it's non toxic.

Pam

I second that but I drys out there skin especially on sensitive dogs.

 

[Stumpy]

I have lived Florida and Alabama all my life and have dealt with terrible flea infestations. I tried all sorts of insecticides, herbs, etc. for years and then I discovered FLEA BUSTERS. I cannot recommend it highly enough! I tell everyone about it who has a flea problem.

It works "mechanically" not by poison. Check it out on the internet. I have no affiliation.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

We use Lufenuron with our dogs, and it is VERY effective. It works by interrupting the flea breeding cycle, and it has NO KNOWN TOXICITY FOR MAMMALS AT ANY DOSE. I do not like topical insecticides because I have young kids that play with our dogs a lot but I don't hesitate to use Lefenuron.

When your dogs are taking lufenuron you actually WANT adult fleas to bite them. The adult flea then lays eggs that are incaable of reaching maturity, thus breaking the cycle.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

Quote:
Just to be safe, you might want to buy your son his own mask that he can use when working with it. On the back of my food grade DE package, it recommends taking special care not to breathe it in - long term use can be bad for the lungs (any fine dust is bad for your lungs). I always use a mask when I spread it - I figure It's better to be safe than sorry - I don't want long problems 10 years from now.

 

[ArizonaNessa]

Quote:
We don't have grass here. I have also heard about the pinesol thing but the only time I use pinesol is floors, toilets and when I change the bedding in the coops (which I never do with chickens around)

Thank you all for your suggestions. The problem has been resolved without any issues. I still don't think I will ever put anything but poultry dust and DE on my chickens or their coop but the yard on the other hand will get sevin from now on. I was quite pleased with it.

As for dog flea drops, my mother also had a toy poodle that had very ill effects from them. I am sure it can be debated at length. My experience is that it did not work for more than 3 days on my dog but the DE along with the yard treatment has stopped them for now and I will retreat often.

As for the mask use~ I will give my son a mask from now on. I just thought if it was safe enough to eat if should be safe enough to breathe but now that I think of it, burritos are safe to eat but might just cause some serious long term damage if inhaled

Thanks for kick starting my brain on that one.

 

[Hoosiermomma]

Would any type of sevin work......dust, granules, spray etc? Are they all just as safe?

 

[ArizonaNessa]

The sevin I used was 5% dust and I used the liquid spray kind that hooks to the end of the water hose for the driveways and the front yard. I saw the granules but chose not to use that because if you don't water it in then it sits on the ground like bird food and I didn't want wild birds or my birds to eat it.