Sulphur powder for lice

[Jonessa]

Hi folks! I was recently given a sweet little silkie, and upon inspection found that she had lice - not a terribly case, but there were consistently 20-30 of the little stinkers hanging out around her vent each time I checked, plus some clusters of nits around the bases of her feathers in the vents area and a few under her wings. She has been in quarantine since I brought her home at the end of March.
At the recommendation of another chicken keeper, I chose to try treating with sulphur powder. I treated her on April 5; when I checked her two days later, I couldn't find a single louse! Yay!
I can't see to find any solid info on what exactly sulphur powder does - does it kill the lice, or simply make the chicken an inhospitable environment? And most importantly now, does it kill the nits? From what I have read, the eggs hatch in 7-10 days - yet it has now been 16 days since I treated her and I still can't find any crawlers. I just treated her again today to be sure, but is it possible that she's in the clear now? I would love to be able to move her into the chicken tractor, separate from the others, so that she can start interacting with them through the wire.
Does anyone have any experience with sulphur powder that they can share?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm glad that your course of treatment worked for you

You may find this article informative: https://entomologytoday.org/2016/07/18/battling-chicken-mites-with-bags-of-brimstone/

 

[Hheysunshine]

What did you use exactly on her? I have a lice situation and would love to try anything that’s not too harsh.

 

[Jonessa]

What did you use exactly on her? I have a lice situation and would love to try anything that’s not too harsh.

Sorry for taking so long to respond - for some reason I didn't get notified of your post in my email. Perhaps you've already solved your lice problem, but just in case... I went to my farm and garden supply store and asked for sulphur powder (also called elemental sulphur or flowers of sulphur). It is used for growing potatoes, apparently, and they sell it by the pound. So I bought two pounds, and went home and dusted her all over with it. As I said in my last post, I treated her again 16 days later, just to be sure, but to this day I haven't seen a single louse anywhere on her. She is now in with the rest of my flock and everyone is happy and healthy.
The first time I treated her I used latex gloves, but the second time I did it with my bare hands - no problem at all. The only thing it did to my hands was turn my silver ring blackish (it came clean again with a little polish with baking soda paste).
Just be sure it's pure sulphur powder, not mixed with anything else. Hope that helps!

 

[SueDawson]

Hi Jonessa - where on Vancouver Island did you buy your sulphur? The only place I can find it is Art Knapp in the plant supplies, and I'm not sure it's the right stuff. Thanks.