Roots and Shutes Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 Hi, I have 3 hybrids 18 months old and still feel an utter novice, and today discovered lice. We have tried all sorts over the past few months for feather loss. One girl is now totally bald on her whole undercarriage and the others have just recently started losing feathers. We HAD thought the top hen Violet (see gets nicknamed violent) was feather plucking and that was the cause ( actually they originally all fell out overnight and have never grown back after she had a bad fright from a strimmer used on the other side of the garden fence) well there WAS feather plucking and eating going on as we saw her do it so we fitted a bumper bit but the feather loss has continued. Our baldest, Penny, gets new growth but it never materialises, I don't know if she pulls it out or another one does, she was very broody on and off last summer so we excused feather loss for that too. She also has very red patches but no broken skin. Google searches brought me to deplumping mite and I began to be sure it was that and at least worth treating for. Whilst waiting for flowers of sulphur to arrive I gave our eglu a good wash and checked for red mite. Might have found 5 or 6 but couldn't be sure that's what they are. Same with the lice, I haven't known what I was really looking for but now I see them it's pretty obvious. So following advice on a thread here for depluming mites I washed the hens in Johnson's dog flea shampoo and applied FOS mixed into sudocrem and found the lice while blow drying. They didn't really move so maybe the shampoo stunned them but knowing head lice I don't believe they are dead! So what to use? I have diatom. Does it kill lice that you know the hens have or is it just a non drug preventative? I want the little blighters dead not reduced. I'm worried that the only options seems to be using medication not licenced for them although under the advice of a vet. I'm also worried that most vets know nothing much about hens anyway. Advice gratefully received. Just some extra info they are all three well and have kept laying 5-6 eggs a week ever since they first started. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavclojak Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 I'm a great believer in a ivermectin based spot-on (not licences for poultry)....it will work on lice, mites and scaly leg mites both as a treatment and a preventative. There is an egg withdrawal period of 1/2weeks I pop on 5/6 drops on the back of my hens neck every 4/6 months along with a good worming program to keep the worm load at a minimum. I think flyt so fancy stocks it and if you call them they will advise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 Depends on the type of lice. You basic feather lice can be wiped out with Johnsons dog or cat flea spray which you can get from any pet shop but which isn't licensed for chickens. Just a couple of squirts on the skin in the general area and they die as they go through it. Depluming lice bury into the feather quill to suck blood. The only way I got rid of them was with Frontline spray applied at a dosage of 0.5 -1.5mL per Kg bodyweight. Same for Northern Fowl Mite. Take care it is strong stuff which is unlicensed for chickens and can only be bought from the vet. Technically there should be no egg withdrawal, but that's the vet's call. Avoid using spot-on as that can overdose a chicken and kill it (vet killed two Orpingtons he treated for a friend of mine) and also carries a 28 day egg withdrawal. As far as I am aware the egg withdrawal for Ivermectin is 14-28 days, depending on the vet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavclojak Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 [quote name="leeweedon" Same and gavclojak - Ivermectin all the way, but I eat the eggs! Oh interesting....I would be lucky to see any eggs....my girls are hardly laying...lazy ladies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roots and Shutes Posted July 1, 2014 Author Share Posted July 1, 2014 Thank you all. I'll look into something medicated if I don't get them growing feathers back soon. Update - the bumper bit fell off violent violet today so she wasted no time pecking naked Penny's vent. So I sprayed purple spray on her bare patch (again) and put bumper bits on them all. I checked for lice and the DE I applied on Sunday had worked - no lice! So now none should be itching and none can pluck feathers we should see some feather growth. Would a tonic be an idea? Do they work or just get wasted? I've made sure there is ACV in the water and they were all wormed about a month ago. And they got some free ranging in today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
