C&T Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 Hello, Been a long time since looking at this board, but I have an itchy problem and thought I would come back! Chickens have lice. I found out the hard way after doing a very quick clean of nesting material, coming inside and realising the sleeves of my jumper were moving, and lice were crawling down my arms. Shudder. All clothes in washing machine, and showered vigorously! BUT the horrid things survived their trip around the machine, so said clothes are now in the freezer (a spare one that wasn’t being used). Anyone know if this will work? Or any other suggestions? Or are my (very nice) clothes destined for burning I’ve ordered a variety of products from Amazon, and chooks/run/coup will be getting thoroughly washed/sprayed/powdered... All while wearing old clothes I can wash super hot in the machine and go in in hot tumble drier... Thank you in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 Are you sure they were lice and not red mites (which live in the housing) red mites will easily transfer to your own house and live in the furniture, so be very careful, and wash the clothes thoroughly in a dog flea shampoo containing permethrin. See the FAQ section for info on spot-on preventatives, sprays and products for using on the coop to kill off red mites Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C&T Posted November 20, 2017 Author Share Posted November 20, 2017 Oh flip, hope they aren’t... but if they are this could be fun... A hot wash is not enough to kill them? Will try and get a good look at them again tomorrow. Without them getting on me! Big enough to see, but thought they were brown rather than red... Have to find some better pictures online - I swear every pic I found looked different. I’ve already liberally sprayed red mite powder around, as that was only thing I had as run out of stuff (careless). So hopefully that will have started having an impact in the coop. The rest should arrive tomorrow and I can get treating (poultry shield and bits). Coming up to winter I’d got careless - but I guess just not that cold yet and things can happen any time. Lesson learned. Won’t lie. Am but concerned about my frozen clothes and what I mapight have inadvertently introduced to the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 Red mites are only red when they have had a blood feed at night, otherwise they are grey. A telltale sign is finding grey fag ash-like droppings in the coop. They way to get rid of them is to spray the interior of the housing very thoroughly with nettex's pink total mite kill spray after you have mucked out and washed it down. Powder in all the nooks and crannies with their Buz Busters mite powder before putting it all back together. Burn all the bedding that you take out. Repeat this every 3 days until you have knocked back the infestation, then revert to using this regime for your weekly clean. You would be advised to set up a preventative quarterly spot-on programme for your chooks. A chicken-savvy vet will recommend on containing ivermectin, which they will prescribe under the cascade system as it's not licensed for use on poultry in the uk You would need to do this whether they are lice or mites. There are details and photos in the FAQ section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C&T Posted November 20, 2017 Author Share Posted November 20, 2017 Thanks. I’ve ordered the nettex spray (should be here tomorrow). Plus the dia thingy earth (that I can’t spell) that I can shake around their run and other bits. First time in 10 years of chicken keeping - got careless! Hoping no long term effects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
