Lice???

[minskey]

Hello Fellow Grapes, I hope you are enjoying the bank Holiday

I think i have found a parasite on the hens I rescued a few weeks ago, not sure what it is, looked like a very small brown ant with wings, not a mite or a louse which i think are greyish & round. Also at the base of some off the feathers around the vent is a crusty white substence whic I think may be eggs, HELP!

I have sprayed with a lice killing spray. They always have diatom in the henhouse shavings and i also put it where they dust bath............... worried

[Suechooks]

I've just looked it up in one of my books and I think you're right - Lice.They definitely produce grey/white crustation around the vent. The advice is louse powder!!! I usually put it in the nest boxes as well and in the areas where they dust bath as an extra dose.

[HayleyB]

I throw louse powder everywhere, I had an itchy head for a couple of days and boy did the laydees get it - turns out I'm allergic to tea tree shampoo

[RichmondHens]

Yes - Sounds like lice. Most chickens get them at some stage. Check around and under vent, between legs, under wings and neck feathers. Cocks also have a tendency to get them on top of their backs and around their preen gland too. You have to be extra vigilant and handle birds regularly to check them. Louse powder is the most effective way of treating them. You will need to re-powder every 4/5 days until they are clear then check every week. A regular powdering programme is best, say do all birds regardless of whether they have lice or not (and if one has, usually the others will too) at least once a month. Easiest done at night with powerful torch and helper (although with experience you can manage on your own easily) as hens are dopey then. Take one by one from the roost, treat and replace. It sounds like a real pain of a job but believe me, once you get the hang of it you will be powdering a bird in a minute or two. My powder of choice is Barrier Healthcare Anti-Louse powder (contains all natural ingredients so no egg withdrawal) but everyone has their favourites I'm sure. Don't be tempted to use Frontline (I've read on other forums about people using this)- it will kill the lice but is not licensed for poultry and the chemicals involved will obviously affect eggs and meat. The powder will get rid of the adult lice but you have to repeat in 4/5 days to kill emerging lice from the eggs. Eggs can be removed by hand. Hope this helps.

[Bephlam]

I throw louse powder everywhere, I had an itchy head for a couple of days and boy did the laydees get it - turns out I'm allergic to tea tree shampoo

LMAO Hayley!! That's what I do...whenever I get a slight itch ALL the animals get blasted...lol...an it's usually absolutely unrelated to the animals! Poor wee things!!

[Hilary B]

When we kept goats, I occasionally found a couple of lice in my hair after milking. They didn't bite me, just itched when they wandered about! Louse powder is tricky when you milk goats, It can fall off into the milking pail, so I sprayed them with the stuff sold to treat fly-strike in sheep. Seemed to work OK, and no sign of it causing ill health in the family.

PS, odd how thinking about such things makes you itch......

[Glutton4...]

I throw louse powder everywhere, I had an itchy head for a couple of days and boy did the laydees get it - turns out I'm allergic to tea tree shampoo

There, just another thing we have in common . I don't actually think I'm allergic to it but it makes my head sting something rotten lol!

I've taken a leaf out of your book, and add louse powder to the chooks' bedding. It smells lovely - then I read the tub which says 'do NOT inhale the dust.' Ho hum!

[minskey]

CATCH THEM The ex-bats have even figured out what an arms length is when you wan't to have a look at them!!!

I did go into my henhouse last night armed with a torch & a mist/spray de-louser; I emerged 17 chooks & half an hour later with a flat battery, covered in wood shavings a chook poo to my OH who was in stiches. He was in charge of the door, not! as each chook flapped like an angry petrodactyl covering me on muck then just strolled pass him as he laughed "look they just don't care"...Ha Ha " Ohh another one has just done it" Ho Ho "they are sooo funny, she gave me a dirty look" hee hee. Six foot three & couln't stop a chook!!!! Oh & this lot have obviously not read the bit that says "chooks are quiet & docile when it is dark"

Yup really looking forward to the louse powder....................... at least I won't get them!!!

[Flummery]

Didn't you give him the camera too?

[matthew2riches]

If you put louse powder in the nesting boxes so when they lay, they get a good dose and also in the floor of the henhouse. Mine used to sleep on the floor until they were savagely attacked. You should also dust all the perches and pretty much the whole area really!

I am going to sterilize my henhouse soon and shall start again in a few weeks.

[Birdie Wife]

I use Frontline spray (now off prescription) which is licensed for cats and dogs. Sorts out scaley leg mite too and lasts for a couple of months or more but yes, you do have to catch them first

[Flummery]

At the risk of thread hijacking - I use Red Mite powder in the coop and nest box. I've got louse powder too - are they interchangeable? Should I alternate - or wait for evidence of lice before I use that? Or put it in the sand pit where they dust bathe?

[Birdie Wife]

Not sure Flumm - I think the Red Mite powder is a preventative rather than cure but I could be wrong. I would continue to put red mite powder in the coop because that's where the mites live, and put louse powder in the sand pit so the chickens can dose themselves when they have a bath

[Flummery]

That's pretty much what I thought Birdie. I've used the Mite powder to try to head 'em off at the pass so to speak, but haven't yet used the louse powder. I think the sandpit is the way to go. Thanks.

[MaureenHall]

I'd be a bit reluctant to put louse powder into the sandpit - lots of chooks eat the sand and I was advised last year not to do it. I think the idea of putting the powder into the nest boxes is a good one though, I'm definitely going to do that