TropicalChickies
Crowing
Re the discussion on sulfur --
I found a great sulfur bar soap in the pharmacy here. It does smell brimstone-y (or like a converter in a car that doesn't work right), but in soap form it's mild enough to use directly on sensitive skin, but still strong enough to be effective for many purposes. For humans, it's very good for skin rashes, irritation, insect bites, acne and other dermatitis.
For the chickens, I melt it to a goopy liquid and slather it on their skin with a small paintbrush wherever I see any lice, chiggers, or sticktight fleas that haven't embedded deeply yet. It smothers the existing pests quickly, then I wipe the goop off with a damp towel and most of the bugs come off with the soap. I leave some of the soap film behind to keep new bugs away, but not so much to weigh down the bird, just a little.
It just worked on Lucio like a charm! I'll post about that adventure separately.
For very bad infestations, I'll use very very diluted permethrin solution directly on the affected areas of the bird. Very carefully dabbed on with a paintbrush, at the base of the feathers for lice or mites, on affected areas of the head for sticktight fleas. (I've seen people on YouTube just grab a chicken and start spraying them willy nilly all over with that stuff and the chicken is breathing in the droplets and I'm like, please someone take that poor bird away from this idiot...
The soap has also worked for two moderate cases of fauvus I treated back when I had a wooden coop that was getting moldy in our wet, warm climate. (No more wood coops here, ever). In those cases I used a toothbrush dipped in the soap solution, to gently scrub the flaky skin away from the face and comb, wiped it clean, and dabbed on diluted iodine tea. Worked quite well. If you can find a product like this, I recommend it. It's also non-toxic.
^Lucio early this morning, just treated with sulfur soap and pest-free, finding treats for his main squeeze, Rusty.
(Rusty is all about Rusty. She really needs to start preening her man, or I will take him
)
I found a great sulfur bar soap in the pharmacy here. It does smell brimstone-y (or like a converter in a car that doesn't work right), but in soap form it's mild enough to use directly on sensitive skin, but still strong enough to be effective for many purposes. For humans, it's very good for skin rashes, irritation, insect bites, acne and other dermatitis.
For the chickens, I melt it to a goopy liquid and slather it on their skin with a small paintbrush wherever I see any lice, chiggers, or sticktight fleas that haven't embedded deeply yet. It smothers the existing pests quickly, then I wipe the goop off with a damp towel and most of the bugs come off with the soap. I leave some of the soap film behind to keep new bugs away, but not so much to weigh down the bird, just a little.
It just worked on Lucio like a charm! I'll post about that adventure separately.
For very bad infestations, I'll use very very diluted permethrin solution directly on the affected areas of the bird. Very carefully dabbed on with a paintbrush, at the base of the feathers for lice or mites, on affected areas of the head for sticktight fleas. (I've seen people on YouTube just grab a chicken and start spraying them willy nilly all over with that stuff and the chicken is breathing in the droplets and I'm like, please someone take that poor bird away from this idiot...
The soap has also worked for two moderate cases of fauvus I treated back when I had a wooden coop that was getting moldy in our wet, warm climate. (No more wood coops here, ever). In those cases I used a toothbrush dipped in the soap solution, to gently scrub the flaky skin away from the face and comb, wiped it clean, and dabbed on diluted iodine tea. Worked quite well. If you can find a product like this, I recommend it. It's also non-toxic.
^Lucio early this morning, just treated with sulfur soap and pest-free, finding treats for his main squeeze, Rusty.
(Rusty is all about Rusty. She really needs to start preening her man, or I will take him
)
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that sucks
