So, I discovered that my chickens have lice. I have approximately 40 birds, including ducks and a turkey. Any suggestions?
More info. They free range every afternoon, with lots of access to dusting places, which they use. I live way out in the middle of nowhere, so wild birds and rodents are an issue that I just have to live with.
Have you checked out the forum, “Backyard Chickens” ?? Lots of home remedies suggested there.
I use liquid ivermectin directly on canaries and finches to treat air sac mites. You might see if it works on lice too. It’s applied directly on the skin (under the wing is easiest).
Elector PSP is the stuff for poultry lice, especially since ivermectin is being pulled off shelves (and would have lifetime withdrawal, anyway.) No withdrawal with Elector, spray it on the birds and the coop.
It is kinda spendy, but a bottle will last you a looooong time. If it’s just too much, you can find spinosad in other sprays–like this. Just do the math for the dilution to the Elector recommendations.
You can use Permethrin. It’s the active ingredient in most equine fly sprays. It’s also the active ingredient in human shampoos for head lice.
You can get it as a concentrated liquid and dilute it, you can get it as a powder. Or I have a friend that successfully used her horses fly spray.
I don’t think there is a published withdrawal time for eggs. I recall one study said it peaked in eggs after 7 days, trace amounts were found in the yolks after 21 days.
Permethrin is also a synthetic so I don’t believe it can be used if you raise organic. I could be wrong about that though.
Thanks guys! I went digging in my Mom’s stash of bird supplies and found a Permethrin powder labeled for use in poultry. Going to give that a try so I don’t have to go anywhere. I’m planning on pulling the feathers that have obvious nits and dusting the birds and nest boxes. I’ll have to look into the withdraw time of powder. I don’t want to ingest the chemical, but eggs are a big part of our diet. I’d hate to toss them, I’m getting 18 a day.
I’ll get the Elector if the powder doesn’t work. I like the idea of spraying everything in one go.
We have a coop with a floor. We cleaned it out, locked up the chickens, and sprayed the coop and the chickens with insecticidal soap via a garden pump sprayer. No issues with collecting eggs and easier on the chickens. We did it in the morning so they had all day to preen and dry. Worked great. We cleaned it up and put bedding back down before evening. I will say that the expression about being mad as a wet hen really is true…:lol:
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