Pebbles was attacked by a hawk a couple of weeks ago, and was saved by Rocky, the Rooster - Blood was drawn, but I figured it would heal up - Today, I noticed that she was loosing feathers around her vent and that her skin looked really irritated. So I grabbed her and brought her inside to check her out. I soaked her rear in some warm water, and then I saw the lice eggs around the quills of her feathers, and a couple of lice moving about.
I have some DE, so I dusted her with it. I checked my other chickens and one of the guineas and the ducks and my banty rooster, and did not see anything on them.
So, I've been going thru the archives, and I think what I should do is:
1. dust all the chickens, guineas and ducks with DE.
2. clean out the coops and the runs and dust with DE - should I also use a disinfectant - like bleach or something?
3. put DE in with their dirt in their little box where they wallow in dirt.
Can I put polymycin or something on Pebbles ouchy areas? Or is there something else I should use.
Also, I know that TamaraFaye knows a lot of natural tricks - chamomile tea? Would that in their water help? Anything else so far as food / vitamins/ water goes?
This is the first time we have had a problem - I guess she was more susceptible because she was injured.
Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions.
My Barred Rock Hen has a bad lice infestation
i am too sleepy to have nay tricks up my sleeve. soemone on here posted that dust baths in wood ashes would help, but i think that is prevention,, as is chamomile
also for prevention i have several artemesia plants around the coop.
i purchsed a natural enzyme spray from Meyer hatchery when i bought my book and bators.... haven't used it yet.
i am thinking that a bath in borax would do the trick... take a second and search this forum and farm life for a thread maybe in the summer or fall of 2006, where info was given for bathing in prep for the fair. you can search by my name, i know i posted in there. and the way we chicken people rattle on, you know it isn't inthe title of the thread LOL
may have been crestedchik too...
those naughty lice probaly got to her because of being weakened by the attack, poor girl. do give her a stornger tea, mugwort and thyme...
best of luck beth!
tf [expert-to-be!]
I use two things on all my birds for both prevention and treatment of all thost pesky little bugs. First I use lice and mite spray for caged birds. You can buy this at Wal-Mart and most other major retail stores. Second of all I use Sevan dust on both the birds and the cages and ground. It has worked well for me.
I love artemesia and it grows like mad here.. can I just surround the hoophouse with it and merigolds? How pretty would that be..
Question, what is DE?
Diatomacious Earth. It is very powdery to big creatures like us, but it shreds insects--you can use it to keep the little vermin out of a lot of things. I think there is some danger if you inhale it much--tiny sharp particles from long dead sea diatoms, but it is non-toxic and recommended for controling feather parasite. I remember hearing that you don't want to use the kind that is sold for swimming pool filters, but I don't remember why.
beth, et al: there are at least two grades of DE that i know of. please use food grade, it is safer...
yes, fran, we have a garden around our coop/yard! onions, garlic, mint, sweet annie, hyssop, mugwort, morning glory, sweet pea vines, cucumber, etc. it is THEIR garden [oh, and sunflowers], but i keep wire PO baskets over whatever i dont' currently wnat eaten down. and invasive things are set into the bed in plastic pots...
we lacekd chicken to enjoy it last year, had fun keeping the goats out of it. they don't free range anymore, they like my lilacs and DH raspberries LOL
granny, i saw a post somewhere, yes i am here, don't remember why i called you. we are really stressed right now and i am dadgum tired. so i get a few minutes on here and there and hardly post. i will never catch up. so, just pretend i am here in case i drift away for a few days or a week... ^ - ^ you know what that is supposed to be ;-)
anyone find crested chiks post for the show bath that included borax?
Thanks, Catscan. Duh, as soon as I posted that, I thought about it. My mind is fogged with this cold or whatever it is I have right now. Or maybe it is just old age catching up with me.
I seem to be suffering from CRS more and more lately. ^_^
CRS? oh, nevermind i fiddered it out. thought you had that thing washed!
tf
TF, I envy you for being able to grow sweet annie. I love the scent of it, but it is too cold to grow here. The best I can do is sage and lavender so far. Will probably find a few others that I like in the future.
hehehehe funny
well try any artemisia... some ave got to be cold hardy, even if you have to pot them up for the winter...
I have searched and searched and read a whole lot of interesting posts, but nothing on what to use to bath chickens in - the closest I found was a post that said shampoo and warm water. I could not find anything about borax.
Poor Pebbles. I'm going to TSC later on to see if they have some kind of anti-lice shampoo!
here you go!
crestedchik
West Monroe, NY
(Zone 5a)
April 26, 2006
12:59 PM
Post #2223671
Sherry
you wouldn't want to go thru what I do when washing for a show
It involves 6 tubs of very warm water
1-wash tub-malithion and Ivory
2 -clear water with vinagar
3-water with borax
4-clear water
5- water with bluing
6- water with glycerine
I also use spray and wash to get out stains(it also kills mites)
scrubers or toothbrush for legs and nails"
this was for showing, i bet it was the malithion that killed the lice. spray and wash for mites sounds good too...
of course, it was in a thread about an Animal Planet show, LOL...
i hope this link posting works for me. This is what i used on mine. Its not a shampoo, but a dip. It works.....trust me!!! Randallburkey is the best....they answer their own phones and are very knowledgeable if you want to talk to them. You should re-dip after 10 days. The dusting does not compare. I think dusting is a good thing to do to help keep them off....but once infested.....you really need to dip. I went and bought a big wide bucket in the horse section of the feed store and it had gallon measurements on the inside to help since you need to dilute it in water. I dipped ALL my birds and again in 10 days to be safe. I filled the bucket with 4 gal and it did 18 birds. I actually did it a third time too. I am so happy to have found this stuff. One bottle will last forever, but i got 2 because i was freaking out and it is cheap enough. I also got the poultry dust they offer as well. Good luck.
http://www.randallburkey.com/fullsize.asp?subt=&page=1&code=permethrin&location=results&process=add&item=26091
Tamara Faye,
Thank you - I didn't even look in the Animal Planet show thread - saw it, but didn't think it would be relevant - figures, eh?
cuckoogirl - That sounds great. I'll see if I can find that somewhere today, as I am totally freaked out.
You guys are all so great... this stuff is going into my personal chicken bible... lol.. someday I WILL need it!!
artemisia Grows very well here in zone 5a.. I espessially love "silver mound" it is so soft and fluffy.. and comes back so pretty... it does tend to get leggy about the missle of summer so as soon as I notice it is looking really nice I make a mental note to cut it back soon... which usually takes me another week or two to get to.. I cut it back and it fills right back in, just as pretty.
Now I remember. Used to have some, but I think my creeping phlox did it in. Will have to remember to get some more.It is something I can put in my round garden where the other herbs are growing. Thanks for reminding me.
Beth, i have never found it anywhere to buy it and i suggest you dont wait too long to order it right from randallburkey. Its not worth it to waste too much time. You would have it within a few days once you order. My little silkie was treated so bad by all the others for her bugs. They would not go near her and i used to feel so sorry for her. They must have known she had em because as soon as she had her first dip she was treated better. NOW after 3 dips she is a part of the flock. She is more proud and happy and it shows so much. I had always lloked for bugs because i suspected it, but i never saw a bug until it was bad. Its not always easy to find them.
They had it at Tractor Supply, I got some. Tomorrow I'll dip them all.
And you are not kidding about not seeing the durn lice until it's really bad! I was stunned!!!
I hate to say this, but I finally broke down and got some broad spectrum farm insecticide and gave everyone a dunk in poison water. I was moving coops, so I only had one chance to kill off all the lice or risk infesting the new coop.
So I gave them the poison bath and then I rinsed them off in clean water. I hated to do it, but it did the trick. Haven't had trouble since. I absolutely would recommend trying all the not poison stuff first. I tried DE and smite and lice spray from the pet store, but that it what finally did the trick. Some chicken fanciers around here use Frontline.
Gosh, they make Frontline for chickens?
LOL to everyone.
you better write it down somewhere, you will never find it searching by topic! at least we are sortat still on topic here, isn't that amazing?
Beth, i am so glad you were able to find it. I will also share this story with you. When we dipped them all, i used warm water and they all relaxed in the dip and came out like wet noodles and we held them over the bucket to drain the excess liquid off. EXCEPT ONE!!!!!!!
She went wicked NUTSO as we lowered her to the dip......so bad, that she flapped out of my hands and fell HEAD FIRST into the dip. She could not right herself and we grabbed her out and i thought for sure she would die. Well, she is FINE.......so if you have any issues doing the dip.....do not worry too much :) The guy at RB told me that the bugd HATE the smell of VetRx and you can apply it to the birds heads to keep the bugs from retreeating to the head to escape the dip stuff. If you dont have any you might want to apply some dust on their heads. The guy told me it can be a problem for the bird if they do go there where there is no dip. I used gloves and tried to be sure it got all through the feathers once they relaxed. Good Luck!!!!!!
I know a natural cure for lice... oregano. You boil it for 10 minutes in water, let it cool, and cover them with it, or spray it on... I dunno I'm not a chicken person yet.
For animals and people you put it in their shampoo. I just pour it on my cockatiels, and it seems to work.
It is supposed to kill 99% of the adults and 100% of the eggs, or vice versa, I forget.
Karen
Karen, how much oregano per cup of water do you use? Thanks in advance.
GG
What I read on the internet said put the oregano in the pan and cover with water, boil 10 minutes, strain and put in shampoo. I didn't bother to strain it.
I just used a $1 bottle from the grocery store, it seems to work great.
Karen
In addition to the steps you have taken with DE, it is a good idea to use a whitewash on the inside of the coop with it. Food grade only and 1 cup DE to 1/2 gal water, stir frequently.
This is good to know. I have to say, I am always looking at my chickens because I have several looking ragged. I cant seem to find anything in their feathers either. I dont know if some are getting ready to moult or if there is something else going on. I think I may purchase this dip and dip them all as a preventative. Do they need to be dried afterward, or if its a nice sunny day, can they dry in the sun? Good luck Beth, let us know how it goes.
My chickens are better - Janastasio, if you look around their vent area, you might see some odd little ball shaped things at the base of some feathers - those are lice egg cases, and in order to get the lice, you have to dip them every couple of weeks for awhile. I guess the egg cases protect the durn things or something!
I just wonder how long it will take for the feathers that she pulled out to grow back in.
i had to pull a few feathers from Blondies bent to clean up a broken egg mess. a diet high in protein [like eggs!] will help the feathers to come in faster...