somebody help me now before I kill ALL of my chickens

[joyful-homemaker]

mine have had those and I used a poultry and garden dust I got from tsc. It works great. I dusted each bird on the back and wings as they are going in at nite and put out a big litter box with it for them to dust bathe in mixed with sand (you can use saw dust or ashes too). They will kick it up under their wings and vent and belly when they dust bathe. Clean out your coup, roosts and nest boxes and sprinkle a fine layer of the dust on them then put new bedding in. The mites hide on the roost and in the nest boxes and anywhere they sleep durring the day and climb back onto the birds at nite so treat these areas well. Also treat the underside of the roost they hide there too.
This stuff works fast, it kills the mites on contact. This has happened to us a few times and even though the bugs can get on you when you clean or handle the birds they cant live on humans. Just shower after dusting them.
hope this helps

 

[chickbea]

I'd be more concerned about what might be crawling on your kids than your birds - maybe they brought home something icky from school!
As said above, external poultry vermin can't thrive on people...but people vermin sure can!

 

[Fudgie]

Ok, just go to the garden store and get some SEVIN dust turn the girls and boys upside down and sprinkle their butts....I know it is gross but wiggle their feathers around and get it down to the roots. You won't die from it....I have had it from head to toe and i don't have bugs and am still alive! I have also been known to shampoo my hair with hartz flea and tick shampoo for good measure....just don't leave it on long. (yes i have lived through that too!)

I figure if you want em dead, use the stuff to kill them!

I don't know about de whatever that is.

 

[whatsup chickenbutt]

OK, I have calmed down. It appears that one of the critters living on my bird got on me when I was carrying her, and washing her. disgusting, but I am not panicking anymore. I am bug free. I went and got some poultry lice and mite killer and put it everywhere in the coop, and on the birds. The only thing I didnt do was pick up the birds and dust them, Im hoping they will spread it themselves.
This was a horrible experience. I dont ever want a chicken bug on my body again. How often do I need to treat the coop? It doesnt say on the box.

 

[danischi24]

I'd dust the birds too. That's what a husband is for

 

[magsrags]

I do not mean to laugh......but my visual of your freaking out after finding that bug in your hair gave way to laughing out loud. I understand it was gross. Finding bugs in hair can be particularly disturbing like no where else.
But the panic in your "voice" was almost like watching someone else tripping/falling down .......and trying not to giggle. Just human nature I suppose...........
Good riddence to those darn bugs!

 

[Poohbear]

Buy some spray for dogs that contain Permethrin. One squirt under tail, under both wings, on the neck (under the feathers) and a last squirt on the back. Put you fowl in a temperary pen and spray every nook and cranny (roost, corners, and floors) with Permetrin or Diesel (just like a truck burns. If you use Diesel, let it air out a day before you put the chickens back in. Some grocery stores have spray for flowers that have Permthrin. I buy concentrate from co-op. Not sure of spelling so I just spelled it the way it sounds. You can also buy 5% Sevin dust that works for lice on chickens.

 

[mypicklebird]

you need to dust your birds- poultry lice live on the birds, not in the coop. If you see crusts and they are falling on you, they have lots of the lice- but what everyone is saying is true- you are not the normal host for poultry lice. The one on you was lost and forlorn- thinking- OH my goodness, where am I?

If you can't bear to pick them up and dust their bottoms where the EGGS, juvenile and adults are- get someone else to do it, and do it again in two weeks. Inspect them monthly, so the problem will not get out of control again. Use sevin (carbaryl) or poultry dust (pyrethrin) these are insecticides if you want to get rid of them fast(er). DE has never been much help to me, it may work if you are diligent, but as you hate the bugs so much, use something that will kill them for sure.

If no one will help you powder them, look up ivermectin- it is off label, but is a liquid you can drip on them- use at your/their own risk. It is a systemic insecticide/parasiticide. Unknown withdrawal time for eggs, lots of folks use it in backyard birds. Don't use if you give or sell eggs to others.

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[3 sisters farm]

Tea tree oil which can be bought at most health food stores...even Walmart will kill bugs in human hair...especially good to control/prevent lice. It is noxious to them and does burn the eyes...but feels real good on the scalp....my kids brought home lice...my ex didn't bother sharing the news....so my mother got her first case of lice at 78 yo....I happen to use a tea tree shampoo so the bugs skipped me! I would treat my hair with that. Lice (human) is much more common...they are resistant to Rid, Qwell and such, olive oil also works to smother them, use it for a couple of hours a couple of times....but likely you got the bugger off chicken or the coop.

 

[whatsup chickenbutt]

fyi, it was definitely off the bird. I found them on the other birds later when I checked. I feel terrible. my sick hen died this morning. She was the one I got the bug from in the first place. I found them on her when I checked after my lice in hair drama. And I found them on my other birds as well. I treated them all with a bug killer from the farm store, sprinkled it in their nests and in their dusting holes. I also tried to get it on each of them, but didnt have so much luck. I will treat them again in two weeks. Really gross. So, do they have them all the time anyway, and sometimes they get super bad, or do they either have them or not? I really had no idea of the severity of the problem. I saw them itching, but I really didnt think it was anything to be alarmed about. Poor thing. She was my best egg layer. The rest of them seem healthy. It really wiped my white leghorn out and fast.