treating chooks

[BUFFS]

i saw on one of the threads earlier in the week that to get rid of persistant lice the chooks can be rinsed in water laced with kitten flea shampoo,as we tried to get some today,the only thing on offer was puppy shampoo,would this be okay to use well diluted in warm water?we have been treating all the girls each week now with louse powder for about 6 weeks and three birds always seem to have a few left still crawling by the vent,the birds get done,the nestboxes get done and even all the inside of the coop gets a sprinkle,and the little buggers are still there,am getting serious earache from OH over this and i dont want the birds suffering any longer than needed.......

[dincur]

Hi Buffs, Have you tried giving them an area to have a (good dry soil) dust bath. They normally rid themselves of the mites. You just gotta wash (with hose) out their boxes and shed with a soft detergent and keep shed and boxes clean. Get in2 the undersides aswell. Be very careful about bringing them into your home on you clothes. Just last year I had them in my bed! I am feeling itchy already just talking about it. Do try it if shampoo fails, but I'm probably preaching to the converted. Dincur

[BUFFS]

they have a lovely dust bath by the coop(3ftx3ft) and clean out the coop each day, and all the floor material is changed for fresh,the nestboxes are completely stripped out each sunday, and lice powder put in with the new bedding,also the nest boxes are only about 4 weeks old as i built new ones when i enlarged the coop to accomodate the new birds,none of which have any little passengers, so puppy shampoo it is

[Bramble-Poultry]

Lice are very easily killed with a pyrethrum based product but as there is no retention of the product on the skin they are very very easily reinfected from housing and also the eggs - the trick is to break the cycle.

Kitten shapmoo is usually a lilacy colour made by johnsons and available from pretty much all pet stores - however puppy shampoo is the same stuff.

Getting rid of lice is very similar to getting rid of headlice - it takes more than a quick wash!! (its stille asy tho) Lather the bird very very well especially around the vent area, rinse with clear water. The shampoo will coat the feather and slow the bird from regaining its natural oils so a final rinse should be given using 1 cup of white vinegar in 1 litre of water, work it in well to the feathers and that will remove all shampoo residue. Do not worry the bird will not smell vinegary afterwards.

The lice eggs are laid at the base of a feather shaft on the feathers surrounding the vent - they will not be killed with shapoo or powder so need manually removing - rather like nit combing.

You now need to dry your bird before you can remove the eggs - towel dry the worst and then hairdry or leave to dry naturally - your preference, but I do find most of my birds find the hairdryer theraputic, ruffle the feathers as you dry rather like you would a childs hair it helps seperate them properly!

Next you need to remove the lice eggs, they are easy to locate around the vent on feather shafts - they look like clumps of dandruff! however they are not easy to get and I would suggest gently plucking out any feathers that have major infestation then you will need a pair of rubber gloves - gently rub the eggs between your finger and thumb whilst wearing the dry gloves to loosen them and then strip the eggs from the feather along the shaft from the skin to the tip - this does not work without rubber gloves!!! You also will not get all of the eggs but the vast majority - thus with all the rest I suggest keepin reinfestation down to almost nothing

I know this sounds a lot of effort but it really isn't 10 mins or so to wash the bird 10 mins to dry and 5 - 10 mins removing eggs

No treat the house - same as red mite the lice live in the bedding and in cracks, clean it out using a good strong ***** fluid solution - ***** is good as lice have no protective barrier like mites, do all the cracks and also perching, then when dry dust everywhere with a lice powder.

So now bird and house are clean, to mop up stragglers get a tub part fill it with a little sand and pour lots of lice powder in - mix well and put in the run, they will look at it strangley at first but soon start dust bathing in it - they are having fun being chickens and medicating themselves all at the same time!! (not that i'm lazy you understand!) keep it dry so either put it in a covered area or remove if its raining, leave it for a week topping up with sand and powder as necessary.

Now you have got on top of the problem it is maintainence - clean your house as normal and dust for mites and lice in crack and perches (or spray whatever you prefered product is) and every couple of weeks pop the dust bath in for two or three days or dust them down by hand (I pop mite powder in with the lice powder too - they are both the same really). You can never ever eliminate mite and lice problems fully as they come in with wild birds - what you can do is keep on top of it and stop it becoming a real problem.

Or you can frontline once a month instead of powder and dust baths - personal choice!

Gosh essay sorry

[BUFFS]

thanks bramble,that really helps,we will be stocking up on ***** fluid and shampoo in the morning,and will be following your instructions to the letter..thanks again.

[Bramble-Poultry]

You are welcome - once you have got on top of them it really is just maintanance!!

Oh and don;t worry about plucking badly infested feathers - the lice grubs feed on the feather so they usually just pop straight out as they are weak anyways so do not hurt the bird!