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[Angie16hearts]

Best to treat the entire flock for mites and worms at the same time 

i did treat the whole flock. A few days ago. Including the bantams. They have a separate coop. I am debating treating them twice, So many mixed opinions.. I would like to try a natural method instead.
What medicine do you recommend ?

I hate to be negative, but DE won't kill mites or lice.

-Kathy

I was just putting the DE so he would get them. I wasn't aware it didn't work. Do you have any suggestions? Tank you for your input.

 

[casportpony]

Quote: For worms, Safeguard or Valbazen, For mites and lice, poultry dust for the birds and spray for the coop.

-Kathy

 

[AugeredIn]

I hate to be negative, but DE won't kill mites or lice.

-Kathy

OK, you are going to have to educate me on this. I don't encourage the use of direct application of DE due to respiratory issues but I need more info here.

 

[casportpony]

 
I hate to be negative, but DE won't kill mites or lice.

-Kathy

OK, you are going to have to educate me on this.  I don't encourage the use of direct application of DE due to respiratory issues but I need more info here.

Back in 2004, when Mike wanted to do chickens without chemicals, he bought a 50 pound bag of food grade DE. We put it in all of their dust bathing areas. It had zero effect on feather lice when used that way, all birds were covered in them, so I decided to cover the birds in the dust, but several days later they still had them. So that's my story... Of course there's the possibility of respiratory problems, which at the time I was oblivious to.

-Kathy

 

[zazouse]

Years ago i place DE in a jar with some fleas and ants to see how long it would take to kill them after a week most were still alive , so they either died of thirst, hunger IMO , i believe it might work on worms if it gets on them ( dries them out)but do not believe it works on a bug after observing the bugs in the jar

 

[DylansMom]

Years ago i place DE in a jar with some fleas and ants to see how long it would take to kill them after a week most were still alive , so they either died of thirst, hunger IMO , i believe it might work on worms if it gets on them ( dries them out)but do not believe it works on a bug after observing the bugs in the jar

X2, we have used it in our vegetable garden to get rid of root maggots ( tiny grubs/insect larva) It seemed to help with those, but had zero affect on the adult insects with hard exoskeletons. So I would guess it can cut up the soft bodied critters, but not the hard bodied adult ones.

 

[AugeredIn]

DE does not work on adults lice and mites like Sevin does. It removes the liquid intake source and prevents continuation of the life cycle via eggs. Of course, while you may have tried these jar experiments I would suggest that your peas know better. They don't spend all that time dirt bathing for nothing trying to get the finer earth particles to stay under the feathers.

I do agree that Sevin is better for curing a problem though.

 

[Angie16hearts]

For worms, Safeguard or Valbazen, For mites and lice, poultry dust for the birds and spray for the coop.

-Kathy

Thank you, very interesting ! I keep getting the wrong information from the feed store. $$$$ down the drain! I'll go get what you recommend. Can you eat the eggs or do they need to be tossed and if yes. For how many days? Can my dog eat the eggs?i checked the one girl who has them the worst and they have already ate through the feathers. I pulled out the few I could see. Ouch but she let me.

 

[Garden Peas]

Thank you, very interesting ! I keep getting the wrong information from the feed store. $$$$ down the drain! I'll go get what you recommend. Can you eat the eggs or do they need to be tossed and if yes. For how many days? Can my dog eat the eggs?i checked the one girl who has them the worst and they have already ate through the feathers. I pulled out the few I could see. Ouch but she let me.

There are many, many sources that will tell you DE works. I haven't had any success with it, so I thought what Zaz wrote made sense about the jar and the fleas.

We once moved into a house that had previously been rented to a family with a lot of dogs and apparently no flea control program. The carpets were steam cleaned before we moved in. The fleas almost ate us alive. I tried everything... LOTS of DE, more steam cleaning... It was AWFUL. I would walk through the house in pantyhose, and the fleas were so thick that it looked like I sprinkled pepper on my legs. It turns out the steam cleaning was causing more flea eggs to hatch

Who knew? The DE did nothing. I think we finally ended up going with a chemical assault and more steam cleaning to get rid of residues, eventually got the house flea free. Meanwhile, the dog we had then developed a flea allergy of life threatening proportions, and eventually developed additional health problems as a result of the allergies and meds.

I don't find that DE works.

 

[Garden Peas]

There are many, many sources that will tell you DE works. I haven't had any success with it, so I thought what Zaz wrote made sense about the jar and the fleas.

We once moved into a house that had previously been rented to a family with a lot of dogs and apparently no flea control program. The carpets were steam cleaned before we moved in. The fleas almost ate us alive. I tried everything... LOTS of DE, more steam cleaning... It was AWFUL. I would walk through the house in pantyhose, and the fleas were so thick that it looked like I sprinkled pepper on my legs. It turns out the steam cleaning was causing more flea eggs to hatch

Who knew? The DE did nothing. I think we finally ended up going with a chemical assault and more steam cleaning to get rid of residues, eventually got the house flea free. Meanwhile, the dog we had then developed a flea allergy of life threatening proportions, and eventually developed additional health problems as a result of the allergies and meds.

I don't find that DE works.

Edited to add: at least it does not seem to be effective against any life stage of the flea. I haven't tried it in gardens or other places