fleas/mite

[davefromthechipie]

Hi all
Just noticed fleas and could be mite in my hen house ( since buying straw from my local farm ) I dont have the cash really to buy loads of sprays etc.. ( i can/ will buy if i have too ) I was thinking of and locking the hen house ' they are free range ' spraying Bob martins flea spray from dogs inside /pyethrins 0.32% /butoxide 1.57% , leaving for one hour then a spray of watered bleach and one house later a jet wash ? then when dry moving back to paper wood bedding ? .
Never had a problem using bleach in the house just not sure on the dog spray ( both kill fleas contact )

the girls arnt happy they are trying to sleep outside the house

[Eco-Chic]

Dave a lot of people use Frontline flea spray on chooks so I daresay you can try the Bob Martins, although I've never found it satisfactory on my dogs.

Personally I'd try a household flea spray (if you have one) on the coop but I'd scrub with bleach first, jetwash and THEN use flea spray.

[MaureenHall]

I'd also give it a quick blast with a blow torch or heat gun - not too much in any one place, you don't want to burn the house down I used my kitchen blow torch (the one I use for caramelising the tops of creme brullee) on all the nooks crannies and joints on my coops before spraying with Smite

[Suechooks]

If you can sleep them somewhere else for a few nights it might be better to Creocote inside the hut. That way you're sure of getting rid of the blighters from all the nooks and crannies. It's about £8 in Wickes.

[RichmondHens]

Chances are it is red mite. Read the thread on that. I always use Creosote substitute - Creocote, Creotreat. One coat into all the nooks and crannies, on the perches, leave to dry and they should all be dead. I am against using flea sprays on poultry (especially ones not designed for their use) as I worry about chemicals getting into or onto the eggs.

[Nicos]

What's the egg withdrawal time after you've used Frontline spray???
Does the vet HAVE to se an infected chook to prescribe it??? ( I'm waiting to hear from my UK vet cos I don't think they sell it over here)

[Eco-Chic]

Nicos it's not approved for Chickens as it hasn't been tested on them. Tell your vet it's for your 'kitten'. It has to be the spray, not the spot on, as the spot on doesn't travel over the chooks skin the way it does on cats and dogs.

[Bramble-Poultry]

nicos there is no egg withdrawl - fipronil is a non systemic drug (ie it doesn;t enter the system in any way) it stays on the skin.

frontline itself is not licenced for chickens but the active ingredient is - user guides for fipronil state no egg withdrawl so its fine.

Spot on uses the oil glands in a mammal to circulate the skin - chooks don;t have it so it has to be a spray one, it will get rid of red mite, lice, scaley leg etc. Spray an good squirt on the back of the neck parting the feathers to see skin, and under each wing - if its fowl mite spray close to the vent as well but not the actual vent. You should need no more frequency that once a month if you tackle the mite in the house too! It is a neuro-toxin so not recommended to use more frequently than that.

Vet doens't have to see the chook - you can walk into any vet in the UK and get frontline kitten spray over the counter - just don;t say its for a chook as they then can;t let you have it.

[RichmondHens]

But doesn't the "kitten" have to be registered with the vet? I once tried to buy wormers for cats from a vet I wasn't registered with and they said I had to register the cats with them before they could prescribe.
Anyway, Jennie, re Frontline on chickens, how can you be sure it doesn't affect the eggs? I am so reluctant to put it on my birds, although it would be handy, as powdering is an onerous task with 60+ birds. And how much cover does the Frontline provide? A month, or longer (for the common louse that is, I don't have Northern fowl mite or scaley leg within my flocks, and never have).

[Eco-Chic]

Richmond, the breeder I got my bantams from told me to spray Frontline under their wings every 3 months.

[RichmondHens]

I'm sure you would have to do it more than that. In cats/dogs the "recommended" dosage for a spot on Frontline treatment is every 4 - 6 weeks. Given that the common louse in chickens has an extremely fast life cycle (eggs laid can hatch within 4 days in warm conditions) a spray every 3 months would be useless, unless the drug is systemic, which Jennie says it isn't. A non-systemic drug just acts on the existing parasites and (sometimes) the eggs. So I cannot see how it can be more effective than powdering.

If I find a bird with lice on it, it gets a thorough powdering and then another in 4 days and then a week after that. Birds not affected get a powdering the same day but not revisited for another 2 weeks.

[davefromthechipie]

Ok thanks all
Hen house cleaned out , dog fly spray added ( it is mites not fleas ) bleach sprayed next then got some red mite spray from local my farm shop , tomorrow il sulfur candle in the morning then paint creocote later ....... If i have any money left il goto the vets for some Frontline

Then On monday il be declaring for bankruptcy :P

[Bramble-Poultry]

Richmond - Because it is non systemic there is as much chance of any entering the egg as the powder you currently use.

I personally find the powder is not much good and requires doing more often. We frontline and have been ok thus far. Frontline will kill any eggs on the bird as well as the actual parasite but like all parasites the main part of the lifecycle is off the animal so unless you treat the housing aswell you may as well not bother treating the bird.

Good husbandary every week cleaning the coop and automatically spraying/dusting it with a parasite killing product and once a month spraying with frontline seems to do the trick - but as with all animals they will never be parasite free its is just a case of keeping on top of them and not allowing their population to become out of control. Some vets require a kitten to be registered with the vet but we never really have had a problem, just got to the vet you use for your other animals and as long as the household is registered you should be fine.

Dave - the key is the house - thats where they live, the bird is just a handy snack! - I will add one thing all of your efforts may be in vain if the house has roofing felt - there will be millions of them under there as it is their favorite habitat and all the spraying of teh house will do nothing they will just keep crawling out from under the felt when it gets dark!! Also remember your perch edges and door runners, there will be lots in these areas too so pay extra special attention here.

You will need to file for bankrupcy - animals seem to be never ending on monetary requirements - what with the animals, the kids and the blasted car I'll be filing too

[RichmondHens]

Thanks Jennie, but reading the article on Fipronil in Wikipedia there are one or two points that concern me, such as the suggestion that it may be carcinogenic, and also toxic to upland game birds. I would have thought that if it's toxic to some game birds, why not to chickens? They are not so different.

[jayjay giant]

Buying in straw from a farm is always a risk, i have been caught twice !
Never again though. I use dust extracted shavings on the floor and in the nest boxes with just a handfull of the pre packaged ( expensive ) straw on top !
The birds seem to like the straw in the nest box and it only costs a pound a week.
Those mites are a bugger to get rid of !
Hope you clear it up soon.
Good luck

Jayjay

www.m6jdb.co.uk