Guest Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 When I recently had to take one of my poorly hens to the Vet (all better now) she recommended using Frontline Flea spray. Does anyone have an opinion on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theherd123 Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 Unless it is one specifically designed for chickens personally i would leave well alone and not use it at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunty e Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 I use frontline spot on, and I was going to buy the spray next as lots of people on another forum recommend it. My vet often has to give me medications which aren't tested for chooks, because so few are, but I trust his judgement. however, some flea treatments, dog and cat shampoo and other things are absolutely deadly to chickens. So it's always best to be careful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theherd123 Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 Well i never knew that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali-s Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 Tilly was given a good soaking with Frontline spray at the Vets (sadly she didn't make it, though nothing to do with Lice) The Vet would not give me Frontline for my other Hens because they are laying. Frontline is not licensed for Poultry so Vet couldn't say how long the egg withdrawal would be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunty e Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 well, i don't tend to bother much with egg withdrawal times I don't give them away during the withdrawal period, but I do generally eat them. But I know that I don't have worms, lice or Mycoplasma. Oh, and frontline is topical, it doesn't enter the blood stream, so I don't think there would be contamination of the eggs. someone correct me if I'm wrong though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 Even though it's topical, I think it acts because the active ingredient is absorbed into the blood stream via the skin and kills the pests when they drink the chickens blood. Having said that, it's unlikely that very much would then pass into the egg, but I suppose that they have to advise caution purely because of lack of evidence to prove otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnP Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 Frontline is indeed absorbed - that's why it's long lasting. As SnowyHowells said, it affects bugs when the drink the animal's blood (we use it on our cat). I don't think it actually kills them, though. I think the idea is that it makes their eggs sterile, so breaking the lifecycle. It's certainly extremely effective on cats! I would worry about transmission in the eggs, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 It's the same with the Ivermectin that I use (not licensed for use on poultry). That's for cattle, but is a very effective flea, lice and worm killer. I never bother with egg withdrawal either. My vet says that it's down to personal choice, and unless I'm giving them away or pregnant, I don't need to worry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
