lice, i've got lice!!!!

[RichmondHens]

All chickens get lice. They are caught from wild birds and/or other chickens nearby. They will not live on you or your dogs and cats. It is not a sign of bad housekeeping if your chickens get lice. The main thing is to check them regularly and treat so they do not get out of hand as a heavily infested bird will be pulled down by the infestation and then is more likely to succumb to other more serious illnesses/viruses. With all parasites, prevention is better than cure. What you use for this is up to you.

There are pros and cons to all treatments. Adding louse powder to a dustbath dilutes the active ingredients and is not really effective. Most powders are designed to use straight onto the bird. Diatomacious earth is probably the best thing to put direct into a dustbath but if your bird already has lice then a good powdering of the bird with a louse powder is needed too. A pyrethrum spray should be effective too, as it is an insecticide as opposed to a repellent, and it is natural in origin. Do not confuse it with permethrin which is synthetic and rather more toxic, particularly to cats. Frontline is also very effective but also quite harmful to the environment and I have my concerns about its use on a food source.

[jessmorris]

I haven't heard of it. there are powders with essential oils which are mainly repellents (and pretty useless to treat an infestattion I'd have thought) and powders with chemicals, usually Permethrin. I'd have a look at yours and see if its the latter. the other thing it might be is a natural product called diatomaceous earth which is, like chalk, made from the sharp shells of millions of teeny sea creatures. these cut the shells of mites and they then dry out, might work the same way on lice.....I don't think chicken lice will spread to your dogs or you as I think they are specific to their hosts. Don't worry too much, all our chooks get lice, and red mite, and some of us get northern fowl mite too!
JM

[Scarlet]

nextex louse powder, anyone used it

Never seen it available near me. For a lice infestation I would use frontline spray, it's not always favoured by others as Suechooks said but it works fast. There is no egg withdrawal and it was recommended to me by our local vet. I think powders act more as repellents

[Nicos]

Hmmmm....as the weather is cooling down a bit, I've noticed many wild birds nipping into the coop to eat the layers pellets!!!

It seems to me that wild birds are a bit of a no no with our chooks!!

[tlck9]

nextex louse powder, anyone used it

[tlck9]

Don't worry yourself, its not neglect - the louse probably originated from a wild bird.....

thnk you for the comments, I was worried I have let them go for the last week, just going up and feeding them rather than my normal 1hour visit money and night.

I found a 3rd with them today.

Even though I've powdered them, will I see new ones appearing???

I've bought some louse powder but its for the house as has to be left for 2 hours and then removed?? not allowing pets back until its done

[jessmorris]

okay my chicken expert friend has been round today as freddie, one of my original had what looksed to be a prolasped egg which cracked.

However I mentioned the missing neck features, so she cheked the bird, EEEEK

she has lice, so we got some powder and did them all, we found 2 of the 9 have signs of lice.

so what do I do, she suggested frontline?

can my dog get them? can I get them? do I do the coop, my house, everything....what do I do to get rid

How could I have let this happen!

Don't worry yourself, its not neglect - the louse probably originated from a wild bird.....

[BUFFS]

i use, as recommended on here,some puppy/kitten shampoo,as we had persistant lice,and i dont like the thought of frontline, i use warm/hot water,wash them well,and then they go thru 4 seperate rinsings (warm water),then dried with towels and or hairdryers,mine have been clear now for about 7/8 weeks,i will do them again next week and just keep them well dusted(and the nestboxes) with louse powder over the winter,we have one or two who look like they will moult,will watch them carefully as we first found lice on a moulting bird last year,but at the moment they are checked every week and are still clear.....

[Suechooks]

my powder doesnt have an egg withdrawl, so excuse my thickness, frontline the same?

in fact I was reading about frontline in dogs and the way it works, I always thought it went into the blood, but it sits and kills the fleas etc on contact

Don't really understand the mechanics of it myself but thats how I've always understood it. I've never withdrawn eggs after powdering or Frontline. I believe theres a difference between the spray and the Spot-on though and the spot-on doesn't work on chooks. There was lots of discussion about it last year as Bramble Poultry swear by it and RichmondHens doesn't.
Its not licensed for poultry because they haven't done any research like many other things. Poultry are classed as disposable I think so not worth bothering to research - don't start me.......!!!!!!!!

[tlck9]

No different from powder etc as it goes on the skin. Thats why you use the spray not spot-on as thats transmitted differently.

my powder doesnt have an egg withdrawl, so excuse my thickness, frontline the same?

in fact I was reading about frontline in dogs and the way it works, I always thought it went into the blood, but it sits and kills the fleas etc on contact

[Suechooks]

No different from powder etc as it goes on the skin. Thats why you use the spray not spot-on as thats transmitted differently.

[tlck9]

Can't do anything but offer sympathy to you both! Get well soon!

Thank you will try!

using Frontline with my vet and she said though it's not licensed it is ok to use. It needs to be the spray though not the spot-on. It has to be from vets as you can't buy spray online.

What is the egg withdrawl for frontline, unofficially of course, I have spray as I brought it in case of ticks on the dog.

I sell some of my eggs, and I would be worried about using something like that, but my friend said its fine

[Suechooks]

Can't do anything but offer sympathy to you both! Get well soon!
Re. the lice, I use the powder and Frontline. I usually do 1 lot of Frontline to 2 lots of powder in summer and alternate with longer gap in winter. Your dog won't get them if you use Frontline on him too. I always Frontline any new birds coming in as part of their welcome pack!!!
I discussed using Frontline with my vet and she said though it's not licensed it is ok to use. It needs to be the spray though not the spot-on. It has to be from vets as you can't buy spray online.

[Glutton4...]

My sympathies, Hon. I'm laid-up too, not allowed to drive or work or do anything until mid-December. Hope you're off the crutches soon.

We can sit and moan together! LOL

[tlck9]

Oh blimey - what've you been up to!!!?

stupidly fell down a curb last weekend, typically my luck at the moment...so i've been struggling up to the allotment and back and not paying enough attention to them.

With freddie poorly as well, which I've got to try and get some antibiotics for