urgent!!! parasite

[mr darcy]

omg just found big clumps of grey eggs or lice bit like nits but tight packed round feather bases near vent, what are they?? how do I get rid of them?? chooks healthy and laying but with mucky bums
wormed last week

[sheena]

They are what you think they are, you need to de-nit the chooks asap before they do some serious damage to your girl's.

Unfortunately due to the hot weather it will only increase the infestation.

Mt best advice would be to bath the infested girl's with pet flea shampoo, thoroughly dry them with a warm standard hair dryer. Remove as many as of as you can by hand if necessary and then dust them with some louse powder.
Also you will need to dust nest boxes, the house and throw some in their dust bath too, this will help get rid of all the remaining survivors.

Check them again tomorrow and repeat removal by hand if need be. I wouldn't bath them again in such a short space of time, due to the protective oils they carry on their feathers.

I know it sounds like a lot of hard work, but it is life saving.

Let us know how you get on.

[RichmondHens]

I would do as Sheena says, (although I generally don't bath mine) but you should pluck all the nits off, with the feather as well if necessary. Powder thoroughly and repeat in a couple of days. Be sure to do all the birds, not just the affected ones. Check and powder on a fortnightly basis as a preventative measure.

They will have mucky bums because of the lice. Some hens poo down themselves as a way of trying to rid themselves of lice. You can wash the poo off if you like, or wait till it dries and then pick it off.

Lice won't actually harm your girls, as they don't suck blood, (which red mite does) but birds with a heavy infestation will be itchy and uncomfortable and this in turn will make them miserable and reducing their egg production. A run down bird is also more susceptible to picking up other infections.

[mr darcy]

Thankyouso much for this advice, I won't bath as I bathed everyone's knickers area this morning because of the mucky bums, it was how I found the nits but only on Scarlet, bathing was not easy to do on my own, I practically culled Buffy by accident!! I've found the correct pyrethene based powder here in France, just locating where to buy it now and then will powder everyone, remove nits, but if I remove the feather will it not bleed badly? I'll powder the house as well. Is it because my hens are not clean enough? I'm reasonably houseproud with my hen house, could Sox have introduced them?

[RichmondHens]

No, nothing to do with not being clean. Lice can be shed from wild birds, but if your birds were fine before Sox came, then it's possible the lice came with him. It's always good practice to check and delouse, and deworm new birds before introducing them to your existing birds.

There is not a chook owner on the planet who has not had to cope with lice on their birds. Don't worry, you are not alone. Just get into a regular routine of checking and powdering and all will be fine. Do them after dark when they are sleepy and easy to catch, checking and powdering with the aid of a powerful torch, and if you are lucky, a spare pair of hands. With a few birds it is only a 10 min job, you will soon get into practice.

Don't worry about plucking the odd feather out. They very rarely bleed. The feathers round the vent are very small. The birds may squawk a bit at first but they soon get used to it. Hold them firmly by the legs with one hand while you inspect and powder with the other (chickens don't like being held round the body as it compresses their air sacs ). You can tip and turn them anyway you like then.

[sheena]

I would do as Sheena says, (although I generally don't bath mine)

I'm just too paranoid I think, anyone would think I was a mother hen myself the way I am with the girl's.

But agreeing with Richmond, plucking feathers doesn't really hurt the hen. But it is best to remove the feather if you cannot get the egg's from it. Lice will try and lay eggs as close to the root of the feather as possible for the body heat.

The way i see it, feathers can regrow but hen's can't be reborn. Which is a shame.

[mr darcy]

oh blimey, my french vet has just told me not to put the saniterpen powder directly on the hens only enviroment, house, nestboxes etc, it's a powder based on natural insectides 'pyrethene'? what do you think, there are no other products on sale!!

[Bramble-Poultry]

they are feather lice. generally only eat the feathers and not the bird per se. pulling the eggs off will probably result in plucking the fetaher out as they are really very well glued to the shafts of the feathers. The best methid is a pyrethrum based shampoo like kitten shampoo diluted down, otherwise front line spray to kill off the adults but the larvae are protected whilst in the eggs so manual removal is the only option.

You might have success using a rubber glove on your hand to add "friction"

[mr darcy]

Thankyou, i reckon pyrethrum must be what I meant by pyrethene (bad french translation) do we both mean the vegetable based insecticide derived from geraniums?!
I'll pop into the pet shop for some shampoo tomorrow. I'm working all day so it looks like friday will be the first opportunity I have to treat the house and leave it time to dry and get someone to help me with the birds bathing, will do the leg holding technique this time. Will also buy some kind of powder when I'm in the UK this summer. I feel really guilty. No wonder they are always desperate to get into their dust bath

[its hilly]

Mix some in the dust bath if you can, then they will help to keep themselves dusted till after the eggs you cant get off hatch.

Bramble how about the insecticidal shampoo (dermoline) you get for horses? Will look up active ingredient at the stable tomorrow. Was thinking of using that on mine if neeeded.

[mr darcy]

Have finally found a powder! am now waiting for the beggars to stop going in one afterr the other to lay so that i can treat the house; tonite everyone is getting parasite talced!!!

[Polly Fouracre]

You can also snip off the affected feathers with some sharp, round-ended scissors and burn them. Then put louse powder in bedding etc.

[CoraxAurata]

Wood ash in the dust bath is a good natural way of helping to keep the lice population down but won't replace the treatments mentioned....

[mr darcy]

Yesterday everyone was powdered thoroughly including myself and my daughter!! daughter was a remarkle chicken handler managing to hold on tight to legs and calm squawking girls whilst i powdered, not bad at only 12. henhouse thoroughly scrubbed with a product that smelt like mega strong dettol, then powdered liberally with more pyrethrum powder shock strength! Girls have to be treated every five days for three weeks to break cycle as I could not get off eggs, partly due to resoiling; in five days if i think Scarlet needs it I will bath her thoroughly before powder. poor girls, I feel immensly guilty for not having identified problem when the poo bums started monthes ago

[jessmorris]

Thankyou, i reckon pyrethrum must be what I meant by pyrethene (bad french translation) do we both mean the vegetable based insecticide derived from geraniums?!
I'll pop into the pet shop for some shampoo tomorrow. I'm working all day so it looks like friday will be the first opportunity I have to treat the house and leave it time to dry and get someone to help me with the birds bathing, will do the leg holding technique this time. Will also buy some kind of powder when I'm in the UK this summer. I feel really guilty. No wonder they are always desperate to get into their dust bath

The natural insecticide is pyrethrum from a plant like a chrysanthemum (daisy type flower). The synthetic version is called Permethrin. Its good for mites and lice which are resistant to other insecticides because they are not insects but related to spiders (I think).