yeah, what seems like a heaven sent answer to some, doesn't seem to work at all for others.After getting my very first chicks years ago I was given some BJG chicks already feathered. I was so excited to make a poultry friend and be GIVEN chickens that I didn't check them over before they were shoved in the box. Got home and was checking them out only to discover they were covered in lice! Eggs amassed all the way around their necks and everything! I was so new to poultry that I had to research just to see what it was. After freaking out I grabbed the sevin dust (now called Garden Dust) and literally rubbed it into them from the top of the head down. Because they were so full of them I dusted them twice the first week then once a week for another 2 weeks. That included dusting their entire quarantine pen and about a foot and a half outside perimeter. No more lice and no more follow up either. They hadn't had a dusting bin provided previously but they learned. Gave them a space with wood ashes and they were good to go. Great egg layers too! I have since learned about DE and have tried it on multiple occasions, mainly on our hogs for lice. As soon as it rains you have to apply it again. If the hogs laid down in their mud the DE was rendered ineffective. Much harder to see results when using DE outside! Just this past year I got a pair of LO that I had been debating about for a year from someone. Like I hadn't learned my lessonThe female was full of red mites, egg mass hidden between her wattles! I honestly tried going just DE. Every 3 days the girl would lay in my lap like a dog enjoying her rubbing. After the 2nd week she still had them pretty bad. (Yes, the entire house, run and her mate were treated) Out of frustration I bought a small can of Sevin. It seemed to control the lice faster but I didn't reapply due to Spring rains. A month later I just went the dog flea drop route (thanks Flower!) and no more lice! Ups and downs for all things and opinions for all- it's just what works for you and what you feel comfortable with
I bought a bag of DE, I can't tell it actually does anything. I used it on some ant hills because I saw a youtube for doing that, and after three days there was literally no difference in the ant hill, except they made an extension off one side to get in and out bypassing the DE. I guess that means they don't like it, but will simply go around it. I do sprinkle a scoop in the poop tray and the dusting area, but once I use up this bag I won't bother buying any more.
I actually used the ivermectin drops when I had chickens before, and like you didn't check for lice until it was too late. The ivermectin worked wonders, and we found out going in and getting them one by one after they roosted was by far the easiest way to treat them, one grab them, the other spread the feathers and drop a few drops. But I then treat the whole coop inside with sevin and repeated three times every two weeks. Never had a problem again and we then started using the ivermectin on the dog instead of buying the expensive meds for the dog
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