Treatment of lice/mites...lots of questions

[TubbyChicken]

I started treating my birds this evening for lice...I cleaned out the coops, dusted the birds with 5% sevin and thoroughly dusted the new bedding and roosts.

I also have a hen with scaly leg mites who I treated with a generous amount of unpetroleum.

How often should I repeat this process? I've read some conflicting information about how often to do this and wonder if there is a general consensus...also, are eggs safe to eat after a bird has been dusted with Sevin?

 

[LauraSBale]

I pretty sure its every 7 days until it clears up.
as it goes for 7 I'm not sure, I used one that is safe for all animals, and it said not to put in the nest box. where they lay their eggs.

 

[TubbyChicken]

Quote:
Thanks for your response! I actually saw some "poultry dust" where I bought the Sevin, but was unsure if it would be as effective. I didn't put any Sevin in the nesting box, but I still want to be sure it's absolutely safe before feeding potentially contaminated eggs to my toddler. I guess for now I'll scramble and feed back the eggs.

I also meant to ask about deworming. I have no idea when the adult birds I acquired were last dewormed, and my younger pullets have never been dewormed. What is a safe poultry dewormer and how does that effect safe consumption of eggs?

 

[LauraSBale]

I looked back at my Girl that had it really bad, I got her a couple weeks ago, and there dead with a couple hours, I did this on Sunday, and i rechecked her today, i didn't see any.
i will redo her again in a week and the next just make of the eggs get killed to.

my girls are only 15 weeks and 7 weeks. and then i got 3 a couples weeks ago that are over a year and one is about 20 weeks.
and I'm glad i did the quarantine thing, or all my girls would have gotten it.

worming I'm not sure, I have thought about it with mine, because the do get to go in the yard, when i had my eggs girls back about 6 years ago, i couldn't remember for the life of me about worming, if and when i did.

Hopefully someone else can answer that.


I dont think i would feed the eggs back to your girls though, if your worried about residue, for your self and family, i would worry about it with your chickens eating.
but then again I'm not sure.

 

[TubbyChicken]

I just read on another part of this board that Sevin will cause mites to return "worse".

Is that something I should be concerned about? I just dusted all of my birds, even ones that I hadn't seen any louse on as preventative...

 

[Echobabe]

I have used food grade diatomaceous earth to control mites/parasites. It will work on ALL soft skinned parasites and their larva, and you don't have to worry about poisoning your birds or their eggs.

Always make sure you use FOOD GRADE DE though, because the regular contains silica and can cause you or your hens breathing difficulty.

I found this out from my vet, who says DE is the only thing he uses in his barnyard and on his flock. You can dust your birds with it, sprinkle it in the next boxes, and even mix it into their food.

I've even used a dusting of it in the scratch to stop a weevil infestation.

 

[Attack Chicken]

I have also read that tabacco leaves can keep mites and pests out of the nest boxes. I have also heard chewing tobacco works just fine. Try mixing some in the bedding.

 

[ivan3]

If reinfestation occurs after the coop is cleaned and `dusted' other sources of contamination might include straw bales and areas under wild bird feeders (if using straw/if run available to wild birds/ free ranging). Orange oil sprayed into cracks and crevices/seams between walls of coop is sometimes effective at suppressing the vermin. Straw bales can be a means of transporting the chitinous gnawers and blood suckers into the coop. We have about three inches of sand mixed with small amount of DE as a base over the wood floor in coop, and the chooks have a sand/wood ash/DE dusting `pit' (we fill it up they `cloud' the issue). We've had no lice/mites on the poultry. A few years ago I had to burn a couple of bales of straw as, after removing them from truck, I found myself crawling with critters all moving at once towards the top of my head.

We check ours every other wk., after they go to roost. The items below (head lamp/magnifying visor/loupes) are inexpensive and make for quick/`low impact' exams; also come in handy for suturing, etc..

Tubby Chicken Wrote:

I also meant to ask about deworming. I have no idea when the adult birds I acquired were last dewormed, and my younger pullets have never been dewormed. What is a safe poultry dewormer and how does that effect safe consumption of eggs?

This is Speckled Hen's method: Eprinex Pour On: “I use a needleless syringe and on a standard size chicken of say 5-7 lb, I'll put 1/4 cc on the skin of the back of the neck. For my much larger birds, say the huge roosters, one of which is over 11 lb, I use 1/2 cc. dosage. Then I reapply at 2 weeks to get the eggs that may hatch later. I wormed my flock the first time when the oldest ones were almost two years old and I saw a worm in the poop of one of the one-yr olds. I am in the middle of doing it again six months later, as a preventative, just to be sure. I may not do it again for a year unless I see evidence of actual worms. Someone gave me some of their Eprinex that was nearing expiration, so I have not bought any, but I will have to do that next time. That huge bottle is about $48, but will reworm a flock over and over. I have 30+ birds.”
Most folks worm twice a year: The pale combs `might’ be the result of worms (should be wormed twice a year, regardless)."

(also good for external parasites), I don't think there's a `withdrawl', but a search would be in order, or someone who uses EPO will chime in.

Good luck!​