The Lice Came Back!

[CityslickerHomestead]

Please let me know what I did wrong with my treatment!

Two months ago I noticed nits on the underbelly of most of my flock. I blame wild magpies hanging out in their run. I’ve fixed that problem so no more maggies.

I treated the 19 chickens by bathing them in water with an enzymatic poultry shampoo, sprayed them with liquid permethrin, cleaned out their coop, sprayed every nook and cranny in the coop with permethrin, replaced their bedding, and dusted the bedding with permethrin powder.

Then every seven days for the next three weeks I followed up with spraying the hot spots on the chickens with permethrin, and dusting the coop with permethrin powder.

I read up that Elector PSP is a one-and-done, so I bought it because I was tired of the weekly treatments on my flock.

At the fourth week I cleaned out the coop again, bathed all the chickens in warm water and a dash of poultry shampoo, and sprayed them AND the entire coop and run with Elector PSP.

As of yesterday half of them still had what looked like fresh nits, some had adult lice, and three of them have bald patches on their behinds. Three different ones have bald patches on their throats. With no pin feathers in sight. Just wrinkly skin.

What did I do wrong? How do I help my flock?

I know the permethrin and Elector PSP worked because for weeks there were dead or dying flies in the coop.

 

[CityslickerHomestead]

To add to this, I also redid the dust bath and sprinkled permethrin powder in there. They mainly use topsoil to bathe in.

Initially I had used DE and wood ash, but that is apparently outdated information and is harmful, so I stoped using those products after two weeks.

 

[Lana15]

It’s not one and done. And the permethrin and DE, and anything else you’re using is neutralizing the effects of the Elector.

 

[dawg53]

Consider doing a light dusting in the pen using Permethrin dust and work it into the soil with a rake, repeat in 7 days.

 

[CityslickerHomestead]

It’s not one and done. And the permethrin and DE, and anything else you’re using is neutralizing the effects of the Elector.

I know it’s not one-and-done. I was treating them for weeks with only permethrin.

Then I switched to elector PSP.

Then a few weeks after elector I switched back to permethrin.

All the literature I’ve read online has told me those treatments would be more than sufficient.

So now I am wondering what my next step should be. I purchased a bunch of mini bottles of elector PSP (because I can’t find the one large bottle for sale anywhere), and plan to clean out the coop and run, (for the third time), and treat the flock and the coop and run with elector PSP (again) with two rounds, 10 days apart.

Will that work?

 

[FunnyBunny89]

I've been dealing with recurring lice since last December, the rain came and they had nowhere to dust bathe. They made it 8 months lice-free before that time. My first round of treatment was mostly successful; I dusted the chickens with permethrin and used a leaf blower to "bomb" the coop with it as well. They remained lice free for about 3-4 months but then it came back with a vengeance because they still didn't have a dry area for dust bathing. Since then, I have resigned to idea that the lice won't go away for good, but I manage it so it's usually only one or a couple hens at a time. I built them a box that holds wood ash and dirt, and I cover it when it rains and uncover it during dry breaks so they can take care of themselves. I have bombed the coop again using the same method about a month or two ago, but at this point, they just have to live with mild lice attacks. I read that free ranged chickens (as mine are) are prone to picking things up, and that most can handle lice with regular dust bathing.

I suspect that some of the bald butt spots could be caused from the irritation of the treatments, because I noticed a couple hens did that too after I had dusted them really well back there. The ones who I find with lice usually aren't bald anywhere.

I recommend picking one treatment plan and doing it for a while so you can really gauge how it's working. But over here, we just manage it with dustings as needed and a large bath box.

 

[CityslickerHomestead]

I've been dealing with recurring lice since last December, the rain came and they had nowhere to dust bathe. They made it 8 months lice-free before that time. My first round of treatment was mostly successful; I dusted the chickens with permethrin and used a leaf blower to "bomb" the coop with it as well. They remained lice free for about 3-4 months but then it came back with a vengeance because they still didn't have a dry area for dust bathing. Since then, I have resigned to idea that the lice won't go away for good, but I manage it so it's usually only one or a couple hens at a time. I built them a box that holds wood ash and dirt, and I cover it when it rains and uncover it during dry breaks so they can take care of themselves. I have bombed the coop again using the same method about a month or two ago, but at this point, they just have to live with mild lice attacks. I read that free ranged chickens (as mine are) are prone to picking things up, and that most can handle lice with regular dust bathing.

I suspect that some of the bald butt spots could be caused from the irritation of the treatments, because I noticed a couple hens did that too after I had dusted them really well back there. The ones who I find with lice usually aren't bald anywhere.

I recommend picking one treatment plan and doing it for a while so you can really gauge how it's working. But over here, we just manage it with dustings as needed and a large bath box.

Thanks for the response!

Yeah, we had unusually high amounts of rain this spring and into summer. Even in winter when it was supposed to snow, we got rain.

Just yesterday we worked on covering the entire run with metal roofing. So now the next step is working on drainage. Everything drains off my roof and toward the chicken run. We don’t have gutters yet, but that’s on the list.

I’ve had chickens since March 2019 and never once had lice. But there’s a first time for everything! My concern now is the lice have become immune to the pesticides and I’m breeding “super lice”.

I need to get one last bath in before the weather really turns.

 

[FunnyBunny89]

Thanks for the response!

Yeah, we had unusually high amounts of rain this spring and into summer. Even in winter when it was supposed to snow, we got rain.

Just yesterday we worked on covering the entire run with metal roofing. So now the next step is working on drainage. Everything drains off my roof and toward the chicken run. We don’t have gutters yet, but that’s on the list.

I’ve had chickens since March 2019 and never once had lice. But there’s a first time for everything! My concern now is the lice have become immune to the pesticides and I’m breeding “super lice”.

I need to get one last bath in before the weather really turns.

I wish I knew where the lice came from. We had a ground squirrel infestation as well, and those little suckers are too smart. We managed to trap 3 but there were 2 left and they won't go in the trap for anything. They're still up there and destroying the ground beneath the big coops, unfortunately. But because it's getting colder, they're hiding more. Anyway, I don't think they brought the lice but I know they carry fleas... all this to say, sometimes you just can't control for everything! Lol. My chickens seem fine, and they're still laying as they should be. I really don't enjoy exposing myself to permethrin over and over, even with protective gear.