Mr Rhode Island Red Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 One of my hens seems to have these small brown mite/lice creatures crawling around her feathers, particularly in her tail feathers and feathers around her vent and her back cape/saddle area. Lice eggs are stuck to her feather stems in large white clumps. Her skin is so badly irritated, it is bright red in places. Her legs are dark yellow in colour so it is clear that she is not laying. I don't have much experience with mite and lice problems so I need help with diagnosis and treatment. I have tried dunking her backside in water as a last ditch attempt to relieve her of the mites/lice but to no avail as hen's feathers are waterproof. Anyway, the mites just scamper away and hide in a different part of the hen's feathers. The only product I have at my disposal is Red mite powder which doesn't seem to be much use in this situation. What products/methods can I buy/use to get rid of these mites/lice, or failing that make the infestation a bit less severe. P.S No other hens seem to be affected Yours Faithfully, Mr Rhode Island Red Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mum Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 If one hen has them, the others will too. If all you have is the mite powder, then give her a thorough dusting of that. I have heard people use Frontline on their hens but it's not a method I have tried. Hopefully someone will be along who can offer more constructive advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavysqueak Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 I don't know if this is actually OK to use or not, but I use small animal mite shampoo on my girls and then gave them a very liberal dusting of diatom powder once they were dry. My logic is that a small animal grooms their coat, so it must be safe to ingest and I had some to hand as I keep guinea pigs. I didn't wash the whole chicken - just the neck, tummy & vent area that was affected. I used a small amount of water to put the shampoo on as far into the feathers as possible, rubbing onto the skin where I could, then I thoroughly rinsed off the area with lots of warm water. I do also have to point out that we didn't seem to have a massive outbreak, so I don't know how effective it would be. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavenders_Blue Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 The red mite powder you have (barrier?) is useless TBH. It smells nice, but that's about all it has going for it. You need Johnson's Anti Mite Spray which should be easy enough to get hold of from pet shops as it's for caged birds e.g. budgies. You'll need to treat all your hens as if one of them has lice, they all will. It's easiest as a two person job - one to hold the hen and the other to part the feathers and spray onto the skin as the spray needs to make contact with the lice to kill them. Pay particular attention to the fluffy feathers under the vent and under the wings. Then spray again a week later to kill any eggs that may have hatched. This should be sufficient to get rid of the infestation, but keep checking your hens for the next couple of weeks or so in case any eggs have been missed and have hatched since. The lice live on the birds and not in the poultry housing, so your coop should be okay, but it's probably worth replacing all the bedding and having a good sweep out in case there is a stray louse crawling about. Just to add - the Johnson's spray is not licensed for use on chickens and you therefore need to withdraw eggs for 48 hours after each application. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 The johnsons mite spray is very very good, one spray on the vent and one under each wing should do it Bathing the bird properly will remove most of the live straight off and provide some intant relief, a good deep warm soapy bath right up to her neck (so the mites cant get away) then use a sponge to wet her neck and very gently her head, if you have dog flea shampoo all the better keep her in after a bath so she can dry (a box overnight is the easiest way) or you can use a hairdryer When she is dry give her a spray. Spray all the others too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandyhas3chucks Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 just agreeing, it works brill... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 I agree about the Johnson's spray. It is a blue can with a budgie on it. *not licensed for use on hens in the UK* I have only used it once and didn't eat the eggs for a few days afterwards. Best to treat them again 7 days later to catch any eggs that may hatch. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 When one of mine had lice I bought some Total Mite Kill concentrate which you dilute 1 part to 10 parts water. Sprayed on the chicken a few times and the problem was solved It's good stuff to clean the coop with too. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Bear in mind that the TMK which Sam mentions above contains permethrin (as does the Johnsons spray) while neither are licensed for use on the birds, they are both very effective at killing lice so long as you treat again a week later and use a preventative quarterly. TMK Conc contains a coating agent to keep the active ingredients on the coop/housing, so may make your chicken look slightly greasy if you use it on the bird. They do, however, make a spray which is the same as the Johnson's one and just as effective at killing lice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurmurf Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 if you can get hold of ivermectin (Eprinex for example) it's a simple few drops on the back of chickens necks and it deals with all the external (and some internal) parasites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groovychook Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 Bathing the bird properly will remove most of the live straight off and provide some intant relief, a good deep warm soapy bath right up to her neck (so the mites cant get away) then use a sponge to wet her neck and very gently her head, if you have dog flea shampoo all the better I'm just about to bathe my araucana girl- I think I can see some creepy crawlies, so better safe than sorry! I'm going to use dog 'flea' shampoo but I' sure I've read somewhere that I should leave her to stand in the water for a little while... I just can't find the post! Can anyone tell me how long for? Just a matter of minutes? I'm going to spray all the chooks with *frontline* (not licensed for poultry) afterwards too. It did the trick last time, so hopefully will again. Just sad about chucking all the eggs away for the next couple of weeks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superkitty Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 (edited) This might help? I got some good advice on bathing them when I first joined. http://club.omlet.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=84853 Edited February 28, 2012 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groovychook Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 This might help? I got some good advice on bathing them when I first joined. http://club.omlet.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=84853 Thank you Superkitty! That must've been the thread I'd seen... Five minutes should do the trick then! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
