What can I do for my silkies

[Swissmiss989]

I have a very nice silkie hen with a huge crest. Its so large and thick it isnt funny. The problem is, none of my silkies take dust baths. I dont know why. They just dont. I thought it was a natural instinct. Anyway her poor head is infested with some kind of little bug. They are not really red but kinda dark looking and extremely tiny. I have dusted them with poultry dust from Runnings. The dust looks like the one on this site http://www.arcatapet.com/item.cfm?cat=11261

I have done it twice now. and still there are tiny bugs. I have isolated her and cleaned out and dusted my coops with DE and for extra precaution i dusted all of my other birds.They just wont go away or drop dead! Her crest is so thick i dont know if the dust can reach them. I dont want to get the dust in her eyes either. Is there something i can do different? Is there something i can put into a bath and use to wash her?

Advice on the bugs would be great. I searched her body shes clean and her vent is clean its just her crest. I dont want to lose her for i fear they are making her sick. Please help!

 

[MamaRudey]

Have you tried Sevin Dust? (Available in the garden section.)

 

[Swissmiss989]

No I havent. Should I give her a bath before I use that?

 

[Birde]

I was told 5% seven dust is the same as poultry dust except poultry dust has an ingredient that helps it to stay longer. I wouldn't suggest using 10% seven dust on them.

 

[Swissmiss989]

If its all the same what else can I do for her?

 

[Birde]

There is a thread here that talks about lice. Very informative. The threads name is lice

 

[leadwolf1]

Look up ivermectin pour on....sorry, I wanted you to have th info but I don't have the time right now to give all the details.

 

[Swissmiss989]

I looked it up but all im finding is stuff a Dr. needs to order. Am I missing something?

 

[leadwolf1]

Yes, you just use the cattle/sheep ivermectin pour on that you can buy from tractor supply. 3 drops on the back of the neck for large fowl and 1 for bantams. Just like you use the flea stuff for dogs/cats. You use a syringe, no needle, and just drop it on! You do have to wait 21 days to use their eggs again, though. However, it works really well and it was worth the 21 days of throwing the eggs away!

Search on this site for more information. Sounds like you need help and fast. I do know that you need to use Sevin powder or something and really clean your coop and spread sevin powder everywhere...all the nooks and crannies.

Good luck!

 

[Sucker#1]

Thank you so much. This was a helpful post!