So sick and tired of this!!!

[technodoll]

Any and all information is good, please keep it coming!

The problem with being in Canada is that some products are difficult or impossible to obtain, so I have to make do with what's available.

I will phone the farm vet on Monday to ask if there are any treatments available that get rid of and help prevent lice infestations.

I read up on the Frontline and it doesn't mention lice, only ticks and fleas.

Any opinions on that?

 

[JP33]

I purchased food grade & non-food grade D.E. They really are basically the same in make up. The non-food is labled for interior as well as exterior applications (safe around pets and children) and the label also says it can be used for bed bugs, dusted into the seams of your mattress.

I use the food grade in my chooks food and the non-food grade dusted into nooks and crannies in their coop and also droppings.

But I really don't see a difference in the two, it must be minute. Perhaps someone can shed some light on this.

And of course, the non-food grade is much cheaper.


...JP

 

[Sunny Side Up]

What about the Ivomec, doesn't that help rid external parasites as well as internal ones?

 

[technodoll]

I don't know about Ivomec nor if I can get any here in Canada... will ask the vet next week, for sure!!

I just cleaned out the coop last week and it wrecked me for 3 days... it's large, it's awkward with low ceilings and I have to scoop the bedding into garbage bags on hands and knees and then carry the heavy bags to the back of the barn in knee-deep snow. It's horrible.

And now I have to do it all again

 

[poultrygeist]

Food Grade Is Ground From Fresh Water Diatomes, The Other Kind(for Pools) Is From Briney Waters!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Since you are in a different country, I'd talk to the farm vetand she what he/she says. There are different products but I don't know what you can get or use.

If the farm vet is more of a large mammal vet and not a chicken vet, do you have something similar to our extension service? It's a service run by the state (not federal) and tied into our land-grant state universities that deal with all kinds of farm problems, whether commercial or what I call us, hobby farmers. My local extension service put me in touch with an agricultural professor at the state university that rasies and has shown chickens. He recommended Sevin for mites and lice.

Whether you use a spray or dust, wear a dust mask. That stuff may not "harm" us, but it is not good for us.

And thanks for posting this. I've seen comments on here that people did not think mites and lice could be active this time of year since it is cold outside. Unfortunately, they can be.

 

[Dar]

WOW maybe I should meet you half way or something... I just bought a 50lb bag of food grade DE for ~~ $25 at my local feed store

I used the dri kill on some of my birds back in april (it gave me pneumonia) but i sprinkle the DE in the food and all over like i am using the arm and hammer carpet stuff in my coop and its been clear so far

 

[mamaKate]

I had lice on my D'uccles and this worked really well. First, I wormed them with piperazine. I used the liquid sold for cats at Wal Mart. This is an important step because killing too many worms at once can hurt them. Then, a week later, I bought a tube of the apple flavored Ivomec for horses. I put a BB sized dot on the back of each neck and under each wing. I made sure it was on the skin, not the feathers. I only have nine birds altogether so I did all of them just to be sure. It worked and the lice never came back.
EDTA: Lice can't live long or reproduce off host. It pretty much requires bird to bird contact.

 

[LynneP]

So the Dri-Kill works but you get them back...either it's coming in on something or they are moving from one bird to another without full eradication. I think your vet will have something you can put on all the birds to break that cycle...

Oh and there is something you can try, not expensive. Years ago a vet told me about this, and I have used it in the barn and coop ever since.

Vapona and Black Flag make 'pest strips'. It's insecticide on wax strips mounted on a plastic frame. Pyrethins. You hang one in each area of concern- coop, stall, pen. Make sure it is high above where the birds can reach and not directly over a feeder or waterer. Let the vapors circulate in the air. Gets a lof of things that are 6- or 8-legged.

I use one in the house against cluster flies in summer and 3 in the barn. Very good stuff, and various stores like Home Hardware have their own brand.

You can see them on this page under 'Biosecurity'...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=7693-Coop_Hygiene

 

[patandchickens]

I would betcha dollars to donuts that the lice are coming from having not *quite* eradicated them (or their eggs) from a few chickens. Randomly checking 3 won't do it, you have to bite the bullet and check *all* of them *all* each week, very thoroughly, for any signs of eggs (nits) not just for the adults.

I have heard of people using systemic products vs lice but I would be pretty leery of doing it myself, at the very least I'd be throwing out the next month's worth of eggs; if you still really want to try it hopefully someone else can suggest dosage or you can google for it, as I know I've run across that info myself while looking for other things so it is presumably findable.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat