eggalp1 Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 To my horror yesterday I discovered my girls are riddled with mites, in over ten years of keeping chicks I've never seen anything this bad. I immediately washed their dirty bums and gave them all a few of sprays of frontline and this morning the eglu is covered in dead mites 👍 I am just wondering when I should spray again as there were clusters of eggs at the base of their feathers which I presume are still to hatch so do I need to spray again in the next few dates to kill any that hatch from these? Thanks for any advice! 😀 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 You need to be careful with Frontline spray as it can stay in the skin for several months and they can overdose on it. You shouldn't need to spray again as the hatchlings will still get the effect. We only use Frontline for Northern Fowl Mite, which burrow under the skin. Presume you mean feather lice Eggalp1, based on your reference to clusters of eggs at the base of the feathers, in which case we would use one or two squirts of Johnsons dog or cat flea spray which is unlicensed for chickens and as such should be used with caution. One or two sprays into the feathers will result in any lice passing through the area dying and eventually they will all be dead. But remember chickens preen and are digesting the stuff, so don't repeat treatment for at least a month. A safer route is a good dusting of Barrier lice powder. If you have access to potash, that's firewood ash, add a little to the soil bath as it is very fine and the lice probably suffocate; works for us. On no account use coal ash as the Sulphur in it will burn their skin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 As you may have gathered, none of these products are licensed for use on poultry in the UK, but you are probably best off with a preventative regime of a spot on containing Ivernectin (my vet recommends a cattle pour-on called Ivomec Eprinex). If there's a severe infestation, then they would also prescribe the use of a spray containing permethrin; 2 treatments on the lice infested areas, a week apart. That should catch the hatching lice and kill those present. The preventative should be repeated quarterly. The preventive will also work against red mites in the housiing A dust bath is always helpful, and an important social function for them too There are stickies about this in the FAQ section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
