txswanie Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 Help, I was giving the girls a monthly health check (one of them had been pulling feathers and laying softies) and discovered lice. Major freak out. Never had even a sniff of mites or lice till now. I now have two pulling out feathers and baldy on the bum. I am sure they all have it but I just cant catch the others to see. Rushed out and got a lice spray and did my best to spray the vents, underwings etc (that's hard to do on your own, will do better tomorrow with hubby) Cleaned out the bedding and sprayed inside the coop and all over the ground. How often do I repeat this and for how long? Do I have to spray their whole body or just certain areas? My main question..can I catch these? I read that humans can not catch poultry lice but if its is lice they caught from a wild bird then humans can catch it. Where would they get lice if not from wild birds? I have already scrubbed myself red raw and have the imaginary itches, this is not nice at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henchanted Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 Hello there I am reassured by medical and veterinary experts that we do not pick up animal lice ie you can't get them from your pet dog for example, so not from your chickens.. But your hens could have picked them up from any other pet or animal just by close proximity, even vermin like rats/mice. If you don't already have or use DIATOM powder (Diatomaceous Earth) then consider using this. You can use it to treat and prevent mites and lice on all animals. Its a little like talcum powder and you mustn't inhale it, but apart from that it is completely safe for us and animals and only toxic to those tiny little creatures you want to get rid of. You can puff it straight into the hens vent area and under the wings. Add it to their dust bath every 2-3 days. You can mix it with the bedding you put down in the hen house and you should dust it inside particularly puffing it into any crevices. Hope that helps a little Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 They will have picked them up from the local wild bird population. It is a bit like children and headlice ... inevitable, even in the best run establishments! Diatom will help. In the UK we have Johnson's Anti Mite Spray ( which despite its name works on lice). I've no idea whether it is available in the US. The dose has to be repeated after a few days and there is an egg withdrawal period. The lice will have laid their eggs at the base of the feathers around the vent, and they are cemented on with a substance that makes them well nigh impossible to remove, so I snip the affected feathers away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txswanie Posted April 9, 2011 Author Share Posted April 9, 2011 Hi, I have been using DE for about 6 months and have never seen mites or lice until now. Don't know what happened, perhaps I missed a week and the little suckers moved in. Thought I was doing so good. Anyway, got some lice spray from the feed store and had a go at squirting the girls. Trimmed off the feathers of the worse ones (the poor souls were almost bald on the bum anyway) I suspect the criminal to be a crow. I have seen one hanging about but it cannot get into the run. How are they transferred? Could be a gopher, we have quite a few of those, (despite my best efforts) or some other sort of rodent. It is so weird but I feel ashamed of this, like I have dirty children or something. Silly. Thanks Colette. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
