gingersam Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 hi i have already posted this on the nestbox but i thought it would be better to do it here, i have recently noticed that there are light brown creepy crawlies on my chickens, im assuming these are lice or fleas. im so shocked as we clean the house out every week and they also have a lice powder that we shake on them every four weeks, we think they may have got these from a rescue bird that we had but has since died. we have had lots of advice but we are unsure of the the right way to go. any advice would be great. our chickens are a year old now. gingersam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanTheDiver Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 I put Diatom in my girls bath so that every time they bath it gets through their feathers and I have never had a problem with lice or fleas. They can get these bugs from garden birds so it is best if you do the diatom regularly. Hope this helps Jan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daxigirl Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 Lice live on the chicken. Liberal diatom dusting on the bird (work well into bum fluff, under wings, neck, chest areas and any beards/head tufts) will get rid of them but a few drops of ivermectin/harkermectin works brilliantly (it a budgie/pigeon treatment) not licensed to use on chickens in the UK but is elsewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolly Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 I think the powder is a preventative not a 'treatment' to kill the mites but I'm not an expert. We have used Xeno 200, which contains Ivermectin, to good effect which is available online and kills the mites, it's not licensed for poultry but is often used for hens on here. It's also worth using every 3 months as a preventative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurmurf Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 I treat mine regularly and we still battle regularly with mites from wild birds. Louse powder with permethrin will kill crawlers, but it's a bit hit and miss unless you rub it right into the base of the feathers all over the bird. We use a medicated dog shampoo to get rid of a bad infestation(Northern Fowl mite is really hard to get rid of) and use Ivermectin/eprinex quarterly or additionally monthly if it's been a bad infestation. A bath in diluted Poultry Shield is very good too. Diatom is a fab regular addition to bedding and around the joins of the coop. Good luck: I feel your pain! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersam Posted April 29, 2013 Author Share Posted April 29, 2013 thank you so much everyone, i really appreciate the good advice. i only seem to have one chicken affected at the moment. i will be sure to let you know what happens. thanks again gingersam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
