Something crawly on the chicken's vent...

[casportpony]

Whenever I catch one of mine I dust and de-worm at the same time, even when they're sick. The wormer I use is Safeguard for Goats/Cattle (fenbendazole 100mg/ml), but it does not get tapeworms. There is only one wormer that gets them all, Valbazen (albendazole), but I've never seen it at a feed store.

 

[Katiedid]

Thanks all! One more question - I know some people hate Sevin, but I was already using DE all over the place and we got mites/lice anyway so I need to up the anti a little. I sprayed the coop down with Sevin and plan to dust them with the poultry and garden mix. I see many people use powdered Sevin in the coop. How long after spraying and dust bathing do I need to wait before I can eat the eggs? If you put Sevin powder in the coop, how does this work with eating the eggs? Thanks again, you all are lifesavers!

 

[casportpony]

I'm not sure how well the powder works in coops since it doesn't get into the cracks the way the spray does, and it's usually the cracks and crevices where the mites hide.

 

[willowbranchfarm]

I dont know why you wouldnt eat the eggs. Unless you are feeding them sevin dust, it cant get in there eggs.

 

[dawg53]

I dont recommend liquid sevin, it's not a good idea spraying the inside of a coop. It's always best to keep the inside of the coop as dry as possible. Sevin dust is more persistant than liquid sevin. Place a pile of sevin dust at the entrance to the coop and hit it with a leaf blower at full blast. I guarantee you the dust will get in every nook and cranie.
Eggs are safe to eat, I'm still here after using sevin dust since the 60's.

 

[Katiedid]

Thanks all! I'll just add the Sevin dust to their coop tomorrow. I already cleaned and sprayed it with the liquid. I've never done that in the winter before and I hope to never do that again, but I suppose it's good that the coop is extremely clean. I dusted them last night with DE and only found bugs on one bird, tonight we re-dusted with Sevin and found none! I know we should do it again in about 10 days to just make sure we get the new ones. I appreciate the help. I'm much less worried about the birds now.

 

[AVintageLife]

This afternoon I had to clean out my coop and dust the chickens for lice. After I cleaned out the coop I spread DE and the poultry dust before I put the new bedding in. Then I waited for the flock to make their way to the roost, grabbed one at a time (I have two roos and five hens) and brought them out to dust them. The roos were not happy when I removed each hen for treatment. Poor lead roo, he will either totally respect my authority now, having seen me pluck up his girls one by one, or he's out on the roost as we speak plotting revenge. Will have to dust them again on Saturday and then we'll see!