4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[cluckingmad]

OK, I really should know the answer to this, and am too ashamed to ask the vet !

 

After a nasty outbreak of lice, my girls have just finished a 2 week permethrin-bathing regimen (two baths, 7-8 days apart) to kill off the nasty little critters. There are no live lice to be seen on the girls anywhere (hoorray!) but there are a fair few eggs still on the feather shafts...

 

So, silly question: after the eggs hatch, do the cases remain on the feathers and look the same as BEFORE they hatch?!

 

We don't want to repeat the permethrin bathing a third time as the vet felt that two baths should do it (first to kill adults, second 7-8 days later to catch the nymphs as they hatch 4-7 days after being laid), and nymphs wouldn't lay eggs at only a few days old (don't they have to be a couple of weeks before they reach maturity??), so the presence of the eggs/cases on the feathers bothers me slightly...

 

And following on from that, what louse powders do people recommend? I wondered about the barrier one, but I know a lot of folk feel that the Barrier red mtie powder is a preventative, rather than a treatment and wondered if it was the same for the louse powder?

 

Final question (promise) - as we now have 10 hens, I'd like to find a way to de-louse them regularly that is less stressful to all concerned than bathing.... have heard you can use spot-on but don't know which one to get (dog, cat, small animal, is there a chicken one?!), and then theres the anti-mite spray, although in order to do a good job with that I'd still need to get to the girls' skin, rather than just misting them with it....

 

 

Oh boy, sorry for the long post Am all itchy again now...

 

 

help?!

[Lewis]

Don't be ashamed to ask the vet, its his/her job and you're paying for the advice

 

I don't know, but I'd think if you still have eggs on the feathers, its not a good thing so maybe speak to your vets about a 3rd bath?

 

I just use red mite powder as a preventative (so far so good) so can't really comment.

Could you use Johnsons mite-spray? I'm sure people have used poultry shield, but check first before you use it

 

With frontline, again you'll need so speak to your vet about the use on chickens but I'd

think the smaller dose one would be best.

 

 

Hopefully someone more useful will be along soon

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Don't think I'm particularly useful . We've only had lice once but once I'd sprayed with Johnson's I snipped off all the feathers with eggs on them. It wasn't hard as it was only one hen and only a few feathers. I don't know anything about the cycle of the eggs .

 

Have you considered Eprinex? That seems to be a spot-on treatment which would be easier for larger numbers of birds. There's a bit about it here but a search for Eprinex would probably give you more info .

[Egluntyne]

The eggs are concreted on and will stay there till the feathers drop out/are trimmed.

 

I always trim them and treat if ever I find any.