Chicken lice

Discussion in 'Breeding, Raising, Feeding and Caring for Animals' started by sun burn, Oct 16, 2010.

  1. paradisi

    paradisi Junior Member

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    dust baths are essential

    a home remedy Ive heard for all sorts of chook problems is crush a clove of garlic in their water - but you should change the water at least once a day with the garlic in it

    https://forum.backyardpoultry.com/ is an excellent resource and if you poke throught there and find something stick it in here for the rest of us
     
  2. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

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    Hey sunburn - did you end up finding a solution? Mine have got lice due to all the wet weather recently and I'm trying to work out what to do. There's no dust to bathe in because everything is sloppy.
     
  3. sun burn

    sun burn Junior Member

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    No i didn't do anything else. We've still got the dust bath in the driveway and its what they do.

    The chicken house is a bit damp though and i am thinking it needs to made drier somehow although the chooks don't spend much time on the ground. More sawdust and straw.

    I reckon the best thing might be to discuss it with a vet or a poultry farmer. And if you do, please tell us what they said.
     
  4. Susan Girard

    Susan Girard Junior Member

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    Some new research suggests that Derris dust (rotenone) may be indicated in Parkinson's Disease, so its another botanical pesticide h I'm steering clear of.
    I have been told WD40 works well when sprayed on the perches etc in the coop, I presume it covers the lice and causes them to suffocate... I don't think it is meant to be a topical treatment actually on the chooks though!
     
  5. sun burn

    sun burn Junior Member

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    If WD 40 works, then so would a coating of oil, wouldn't it?
     
  6. Grasshopper

    Grasshopper Senior Member

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  7. Kerrick

    Kerrick Junior Member

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    At the farm I trained at this summer, we had a severe hit of bird mites in our chicken coop. We were losing the young ones—they were getting too weak. We were finding dead adolescent chickens with signs of anemia, their bodies just crawling with mites. The problem? The coop was dark, built from natural materials, and all the perches were of wood. The mites were living in the crevices and crawling across the wood perches at night to get to the chickens. We observed that the mites didn't crawl on or live in non-porous surfaces, and they avoided sunlight. What finally ended the infestation was removing the wood perches and replacing them with free-standing PVC ones with their legs in buckets of water so the mites couldn't crawl on them, and replacing part of the roof with clear greenhouse plastic to admit sunlight. That and adding dustbaths with DE.
     
  8. DonHansford

    DonHansford Junior Member

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    Just so you don't get confused - there is no such thing in Australia as "Food Grade" Diatomaceous Earth. That is a marketing term used in the USA, not here.

    You want ultra-fine grade DE (
     
  9. Stingray

    Stingray Junior Member

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    We've had a few outbreaks of lice over the years .. and i tend to notice it when i've collected the eggs and renewed their straw beds .. can feel them crawlin all over me .. lol.. they dont bite.. but it gives me the creeps.. lol - so i end up goin for an extra HOT shower to kill em all :)
    I will completely remove all the straw from their nests when i find lice .. and then lime both the old straw (now on a garden bed) and the new straw plus a good handful thrown about their pen :)
    .. i dont bother with the birds unless I find a major outbreak .. but doing it this way i tend to catch it before it gets that serious ..
    -Daz
     
  10. sun burn

    sun burn Junior Member

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    That's interesting because you are the second person who has mentioned using lime. This suggests that the idea is out there somewhere as an idea. Perhaps next time someone goes to the vet they could ask them about the use of lime for controlling lice.

    I know that feeling about having them crawling all over you. I have had that and you can see the little buggers. They are quite easy to catch and squash, not like fleas. It feels worst when you have them in your hair.

    Alas no hot shower tonight. No sunshine, just rain rain rain all day. I"d like a hot shower though no lice to worry about today.
     
  11. Stingray

    Stingray Junior Member

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    I got told to use lime by the local (well .. local back then) produce place we got our hay/feed from .. had a major lice outbreak in that pen back then
    I think because I do try to renew the hay/bedding in the chook tractor regularly the lice dont have a chance to build up,
    that and that every month or so the tractor gets moved to a new vegi bed for them to turn over as well :)
    Pity no hot water .. solar hot water system i guess? :)
    - Daz
     
  12. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

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    I read lime elsewhere also and I have ready access to that and not DE so that's what I used. It helped a bit, but eventually we had a few dry days, they got fresh bedding and the lice just disappeared on their own.
     
  13. toolworx

    toolworx Junior Member

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    Interesting info in here.
    Ok what I know about Lice and mites.. We had a bad run with Mites and lice in out chooks.
    First thing of a morning when the chooks are let out Spray the chook house with diesel making sure you get it on the perches and in any cracks. Lice/Mites will hide in the cracks.
    Clean out nesting boxes and remove straw from the floor. we burnt it all. Spray the ground and re straw same with nesting boxes when the diesel has dried.
    Sulfur will help Keep the mites away. Mites where out main problem. We did not want to but had to Nuke the chooks with a ROTENONE powder as they where loosing weight and egg production had dropped off.
    Hope that was helpful.

    Now For a Question. We made some garlic water. Really strong, We got the flower stalks and broke about 6 into short lengths and put them in a jar with hot water. it fermented and has been sitting there about 3 months.
    Will it be safe to dilute and add to the chook water?
    I will be growing garlic and will harvest some leaves for them to munch on later.
    Thanks for reading and In advance for the help. :)
     
  14. sun burn

    sun burn Junior Member

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    Gee diesel seems pretty full on.

    In my book "raising ducks" which i've finally bought, this is what it says about treatments for lice and mites. Though none of this addresses your query about garlic.

    "Various treatments that have been suggested over the years include diatomaceous earth, olive oil, 50 per cent organic apple cider and water solution, pulverised dried tobacco leaves, and wood ashes. There are various commercial insecticidal preparations available from feed stores or poultry supply distributors, including enzyme-containing lice and mite sprays, malathion, permethrin and sevin. To be effective these products need to be worked into the feathers of the head, neck, wings, upper tail, back and vent. When dusting or spraying with an insecticide, carefully follow the manufacturers directions. Extreme caution should be taken to avoid inhaling the insecticide, getting it in either your eyes or those of the birds and contaminating water or feed. In case of heavy mite infestations, buildings, nests and roosting areas should be cleaned, disinfected with an approved disinfectant and then sprayed or dusted with a product of your choice. Under the guidance of a vet, invermectin can also be used to control most external parasites.

    Prevention: To keep external parasites in check, provide sanitary living conditions, supply bathing waters (obviously this is for ducks) when possible, and treat birds before lice or mites are numerous enough to be harmful. Turkey and chicken hens used as foster mothers should always be treated for lice and mites before their maternal chores begin. "

    I noticed that the mite problem i had back in about November seems to have disappeared. I really think that the dust baths for the chickens helped a lot. And also the fact that my ducks and chickens can free range through the day and the ducks have a bath that they use daily. Perhaps also the wet conditions are helping too in the actual pen. And i change the straw in the nests often, though now, on the floor, i am trying the deep litter method and just putting sawdust on top of dirty old floor material rather than clearing it out. When i run out of sawdust, i suppose i will go to buying straw. But if i get a mite problem, i will clear out the whole lot. With the deep litter method, you only clear out the floor material once a year.
     
  15. Pixie Feral

    Pixie Feral Junior Member

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    Food Grade DE

    There is such a thing as food grade DE per say as the other DE is used to clean pool filters and I don't think any of us wont that near our Chookers. There is a company that is called Grow Natural who have it in 5kg and 20kg bags. It also comes in two grades.
    They are:
    Fine Grade’ is best used for pest control, fleas, bed bugs, cockroaches and dusting of pets coats and fur.
    ‘Livestock Grade’ is available, a much coarser grade for ‘livestock and pet feed’, home gardening and plants. ( this grade is still effective on fleas and bugs for grass and garden areas, but a bit harsh to rub onto your pet)
    ‘fine grade’ for the best pet, flea and bug control externally, internally, the ‘livestock grade’ will do for controlling worms and parasites for your pets and livestock.
    DE is natural silica, organic and non toxic, a natural product that has many benefits and applications for animals and the environment.
    The lime will work for the lice though. https://www.grownatural.com.au
    I hope this helps and look forward to picking some very clever peoples brains in the future.:)
     
  16. Imarni

    Imarni Junior Member

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    I will use Ivomectin probably not permaculture PC but I can't see any other way to eradicate lice from chickens everything else seems very half assed. I do also use vaseline and lavender to quelch scale and garlic for worming. But lice I want out and fast it effects egg production.
     

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