Today we move into a new coop! So all lice have to go. Consequently, everyone got a nice bath.
Here are some funny pix!
This gal was having nothing of it. Irene is always so contrary!
Madder than a wet hen?
Piccadilly was just maxing and relaxing...
Honestly, have you ever seen a chicken sit like that before?
They were pretty sad looking... Oona is so small with her feathers matted down...
But in the end, everyone made the best of it!
Although the queen does NOT approve...
Great photos! I really did laugh out loud when I enlarged the picture of Piccadilly. I love that chick. Someone get her a class of tea and some shades.
Irene looks like she's winning. You are the one getting the shower.
And then there's Oona, now that is one MAD looking hen. :)
Who's the little white one that's about to tip over? Too many margaritas?
And I'm thinking the Queen is Irene?
what did you use in the water to kill the lice?
Hilarious photos! You look like you're having fun too. Love your T-shirt, BTW. I used to have a small replica of that poster I got at the National Archives.
Oh No no no, I cant stand it!!!! Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!! That is just toooo funny!!!
Those pics are great!!! Congrats on finishing the new house too!
Well, we tried a one-two punch to kill the lice. First we bathed them in flea/tick shampoo and then I used a pretty strong insecticide called Hi-Yield Indoor/Outdoor broad use. It has specific instructions for poultry lice. I didn't really want to go there, but I did. Then I rinsed them in water. I found lots of dead lice on my silkies, but no live ones. My next step is going to be to use dicremacious earth ( however you spell it) in the coop and on the gals. I'm going to check the silkies especially and put more poison on if I have to. I hope not to.
Joan, you are so right, Irene was quite a challenge. There are two silver-laced wyandottes in my flock. The queen of the coop is Savannah, and the town crier is Irene. She never shuts up! :)
And isn't that silkie funny? She was just sunning herself. That's Ursula. Tonight everyone is fine and fluffy again. Although, they are very mad. Petulant is more like it, actually. Petulant as a wet hen. They are punishing me and will not come when I call, tonight. Oh well :) I'll just have to up the bribes for the next few days.
If you have a box for them to use for dusting you can put the DE or sevin dust in it
Yes, I'm putting it in the nest boxes with the shavings. This time of year, the gals make festive little holes all over the yard to bathe in. It is like a chicken spa! In the winter I have a dust bathing box with DE in it.
Can people get lice from chickens ? Seems like someone once posted that the kind that were on chickens were specific to birds only.
Is that true ?
Makes me squirm thinking about it. Larger bugs I can see don't frighten me, but the idea of little tiny things I can't see really gets me going.
I've never seen any on my chickens. But that dosen't mean they aren't there. We don't handle the chickens much though.
How can you tell if they have them ? It may be time for a bugbath for our girls too.
Those were some funny pictures. Thanks for sharing them.
So funny! Piccadilly is one cool chic err chick errr...LOL
Lana
Yup the lice will crawl on you but they don't stay there cause they are looking for a meal we just don't have
and it does drive you nuts when you feel them
I've sprayed myself with flea spray at times
When showing its REALLY a no no to have lice
the judges freak if they feel the lice crawling on them
also those of you with crested birds,including silkies,we get a double
whammy cause there are Crest lice
they look like there is pepper in the crest (they also like beards)
What works the best for me,but its expensive ,is Front line spray
I've been having a tough time finding it locally
I may have to buy it online again
It lasts for almost a month
I use an eye dropper instead of spraying it
One or 2 drops on the crest and one or 2 in the vent area
I've never seen lice on my chickens but maybe I've never looked for them. Thanks for the information I'm going to check today.
Cathy
not to make things worse but the are also feather mites
you see them best on whites and are very hard to see on dark colored birds
they look like small greyish black lines on the insides of the wings
if you hold the wing out you can see them
and if your birds are exposed to wild birds
swallows,starlings etc.....thats where the mites and lice come from.
impossible to avoid
yeah, mine came from the two silkies I got last fall. I should have quarantined them but I didn't. Live and learn!
Crestedchick or BackyardHens,
Is DE diatomaceous earth? If so what is it and where do you find/buy it???
Do you just put regular dirt in your dusting boxes or sand, or what??? ...Will cats use it for a litter box? :(
What kind of Sevin product do you use - what does your Sevin package say? I've seen a variety of Sevin dust packages and I don't know which one to get. My "Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens" doesn't mention Sevin.
Are Sevin and DE safe to use with egg chickens?
Thanks for the info! ~:>
Crestedchick,
I forgot to ask you, is it safe for the Front line spray drops to touch the chickens' skin? Or do you just put a few drops on the feathers only? ....I wish they made pest collars for chickens - like they do dogs and cats.
I have been having trouble finding DE here too! Ive looked and looked! I found it once on the internet but my Heavens thepostage was outrageous! So Im still looking!
Eufaula, I saw it at the local Lowes in with the garden fertilizers and pesticides.
Eufaula,
I called my county extension office and was told to just dust the top of the roosts with a thick layer of (chicken louse powder) before they come in at night to go to sleep. They will hop up on the roost and set in the powder all night. The powder will get in their feathers and kill the pests. The lady I talked to did not like using diatomaceous earth because, she said, it is so abrasive it can damage the chickens eyes if they get some in them, and cause repertory problems if they breath it in.
thanks Y'all, Im going to check out the DE again, and see if there is one safe for Chickens and Im going to check up on Louse powder!
Even though I havent had any problems so far (that I know Of) I want to be prepared!
we used to Whitewash the coop with a salt ,water and lime solution! It always seemed to work for grandma so I figured it would work for me too!
well, you are supposed to try to get food grade DE.
I get it in the pesticide department of the local food store. Some people swear by it, others don't like it. It does have fine particulates, so don't go breathing it in for fun, as it is probably not good for you :) It has widespread usage in the chicken world, so I think it is fine to use in smallish doses.
Glenda, my issue is that not all the lice live on the lower half of the chicken's body, so just on the roost won't do the total trick. I'm going to powder everyone's bums and shake a little on the rest of them every once in a while to make sure hte lice are under control.
good luck!
There was some food grade DE on ebay from a chicken breeder I was looking at. Pretty cheap I thought. They went on and on in the description about how great it was to use for the chickens.
I've never used it, but have thought of getting some as a preventive type thing....
http://cgi.ebay.com/One-Pound-Diatomaceous-Earth-Excellent-Wormer_W0QQitemZ180125434962QQihZ008QQcategoryZ46532QQcmdZViewItem
there are of course others listed....
~Julie
Those pictures are TOO FUNNY!
Wish I didn't just learn all I don't want to know about lice & mites. But, forewarned is forearmed! Once again the EXPERTS on this forum have educated me.
Margie
Experts only b/c we've learned the hard way, too :) I love this forum. I love learning so much from everyone.
OMG lice and mites. I am a itching now.
I use DE , food grade.. I spent $56 including shipping for a 50# bag.. thats pennies over $1 a pound... I have had it for 3 months, I use it often.. the girls have a sand pit they "bath" in.. I sprinkle it every time after it rains and dries.. DE disapates when it rains, I also use it under and inbetween everything when I clean the henhouse,.. also if the "yard is getting a little "goey" I sprinkle a bit and it dries up wet poop. If I notice extra flies around I sprinkle a bit.. here and there.. I add a bit in their feed.. and the dogs feed and the cats feed.. ummm I use it around the base of my hosta.. can you spell slugs with owies on their bellies... hosta just don't taste that good anymore.. umm what else.. oh yea... at each doorway in the house to keep the ants out.. where the phone cord comes in the floor there is a hole all around there..
Can anyone tell, this year I am new to DE.. I have been using it solidly for 3 months.. I have only used a little over 10 lbs.. a little goes a long way.. I am sold! $56 is a LOT of money to me... but this stuff is well worth it!
Oh the worse thing... I guess I have to say something bad... yep you are right.. I do notice after I use it... My eyes do feel dry.. and right next to my nose feels sore... kind of like after youve had a cold and used too much tissue... so I have taken to wearing a mask when I am in a sprinkle mood...
ALSO... if we end up like other years having a few fleas.. I will use it on the dogs and cats.
Sorry for takingup so much room.. Have to stick up for my new found favorite product.
I will check with my feed store and see if they have it. If not I will see if I can get it online. Sure could use some of that.
Do you think it really helps with the flies?--cause I have serious fly problems. Not in the coop, but everwhere in the yard from the figs and apricots dropping and the chickens--well doing what chickens do while they are free ranging. They aren't biting flies and they never land on me, but my lawn looks and sounds like the windows at the Amitville Horror house. I've hung up fly traps and they are covered in just a few minutes (then the chickens like to come over and pick the flies off--so cute!:0( ) Since most of the "food" they are going for is on the ground anyway--do you think just sprinking DE would help--or is there some other way? HELP!
I can feel for ya i think of the same movie when i walk by the dogs food bowl.
What are the flies after? Thats what I think about when I am sprinkleing.. I am not sure if it is the texture, and like the slugs it (the DE) hurts the flies, or the fact that it dries what the flies are after thereby removing the odor that attracts the flies.. maybe thats why my fly population is down.. if I see a lot of gooey poop.. I sprinkle.. whatever the reason its working for me..
But I do have flies.. and this year I have mosquitos.. really bad.. but we have been warned we would with all the floods..
They are going for the chicken poop (this is the only circumstances under which I use that word) the spilled mash and the fruit that has fallen on the ground. I would think that the DE would be most effective against the maggots--but then it seems like the chickens should be eating the maggots. I need to reduce the population before the neighbors complain--not that the flies are going into their yards--I have way too much good stuff right here. I"m festooning the trees and arbors with fly paper--it works, but I need something nuclear!
like a five gallon bucket with food scraps in it, hanging from the fruit tree? yes your chickens are eating the maggots, you just don't have enough chickens!
Thank you, tf the enabeler!. Actually the fly population seems to be dropping some. I let the big girls free range the yard every evening and the month olds as well (they are so sweet). There has never been a problem in the coop where the litter builds up and the pullets spend their free time ranging the yard and cleaning up the fruit and er "protein nuggets". The problem is where the chickens wander in the evening and then it stays there til the next evening. They say that if you don't use pesticides fly parasite population will also build up and keep the fly population down.
This weekend I will refine my chicken operation!
well, just try to stay away from eggbid, OK?