Which should I get, DE or Sevin Dust? Lice have struck us :(

[chicken_china_mom]

Ok, so I've used DE in the past, but that was BEFORE getting the lice. I had to give one of my roo's a bath the other day, and as I was blow drying him I noticed all these little reddish spots on his feathers (he's a white Silkie), and Upon closer inspection I realized they were moving.

So I flipped him over, looked at his vent, and sure enough, they were EVERYWHERE. They were NOT there the last time I checked my birds. So I made the trip outside to check the rest of the birds and oddly enough, not everyone is infested. Some I found maybe one or two on, some I found absolutely nothing on, and some seemed to have a party going on around their vents. So, my question is, which will get rid of them faster? Should I just get a big ole bag of DE, or should I get some Sevin dust for now? I can't get to a store so it has to be delivered, and all I can find online is Sevin 5 dust, not Sevin 10. I want these pests GONE A.S.A.P. I know the DE has to be food grade, that's what I've bought in the past. And I plan to dust both my flocks, even though my Standards are clean and far away from my Bantam flock. But the wild birds are EVERYWHERE, so I know that's where the bugs are coming from. I plan to deworm the flocks soon, just to be safe. Oh, and I bring my little babies outside too to enjoy the weather now that it's nice, and I'm sure the lice are in the grass all over the yard, not just in the chicken areas, so can I, or SHOULD I dust them too? One group is 6 weeks, one group is 4 weeks, and I have a little group that is about a week and a half old, but I haven't taken them outside yet. Best advice in this situation? I want these pests GONE!!!

 

[KellyHM]

Those sound more like mites than lice. Either way you need to get some Sevin Dust. Dust all the birds and their coops and sprinkle dust in the areas they take their dust baths. Repeat every 2 weeks until you no longer have the pests (to make sure you're catching the eggs that will continue to hatch).

 

[rancher hicks]

yes, but isn't DE food grade a dual purpose dusting? For mites and worms? kinda like an inside outside type thing?

 

[chicmom]

I recommend sevin dust, and if you can, remove the old bedding from your coop and dust that too like crazy! Dust your birds, then repeat in two weeks. That'll fix em.

 

[chicken_china_mom]

Ok, and will the Sevin 5 do the trick? I'm looking at a bag of it on Amazon.com right now. Are these mites or lice? They are swarming around the vent areas on my birds. I figured I was finding them all over my Silkie roo because I had him in the water in the sink as I washed him and they were running for their lives to get out of the water. The ones I noticed outside look more white. I hate bugs!!!!!

 

[ranchhand]

You'll need the 5% Sevin, the 10 % is too toxic. Dust all the adult birds and the yard, coop and run areas. I wouldn't put the little ones out yet, nor would I dust them, until you get the outdoors cleaned up. And then only if you actually see the mites on them.

Good luck, you'll need to repeat the entire process in a few weeks. No fun.

 

[chicken_china_mom]

Quote:
So I manually dust every bird, right? Do I dust the ducks too? That would be the truly hard part. Not the chickens! I was under the impression that because ducks spend so much time in the water, lice don't like to stay on them. I'll go order the Sevin dust now! Can I give the 6 weeks old some to dust in? They are already outside near the adults.

 

[Shannon's Chix]

The easiest thing I've found to use is Frontline spray. You can get it online and just put a squirt behind the head, under the wings and above the vent. They didn't come back, you don't have to respray in 2 weeks...

 

[rancher hicks]

make sure ot dust nest boxes as well.

 

[chicken_china_mom]

Quote:
Yeah, at a 4-H meeting last year the man I was sitting next to, he told me he uses Frontline on his birds, but not the spray, he uses the drops like you use on a dog. He said one drop between the should blades, and another small drop by the vent and it instantly kills all parasites. I'd rather use the spray though. I think I'll get the Sevin now, and invest in the Frontline spray once I make sure the coop and yard are clean. Do you still eat the eggs when you use Frontline?