[Selkie]

hi,

have just been doing a bit of a 'health-check' on dora and noticed that she has lice :shock: ...but i couldn't see any on daisy.

hubby will be going to the vet tomorrow for spray/powder; i know we will have to treat both hens but do we have to use the product on their henhouse too?

is this likely to be something that keeps coming back?

i would really welcome any suggestions/advice...(thanks for the info on the 'external parasites' page)

[Bodger]

It depends on the product.
Lice unlike mites tend to live on the bird in the main They are spread by wild birds as well as from hen to hen.

I use a product which is called Mite- Kill. Its sold for treatment of wooden surfaces but I also use it directly on the bird. Its not licensed for use on the birds but I use it and very effective it is to.
Its sold in aerosol at many agricultural merchants.

[Selkie]

an update....we got some ivermectin (I think) from the vet and made up two solutions - a stronger one to spray on their house and bedding, and a weaker one to spray on the girls themselves.

hens weren't too happy about being sprayed! the vet said we should do this again in a couple of weeks, which will be fun

we get crows and magpies coming into the run to steal the hens food so I guess that's where the lice have come from?

hope this is a success...both girls have stopped laying eggs; think it's a combination of having builders working over them, the lice and the fact that they seem to be moulting -- could see lots of lovely new feathers coming through --is that right?

[babe]

cant ivermectin be dangerous on such a small animal

i use it for my horse and im sure that pet smart do a very very mild version for rodents.

but i would have thought it would be all to easy to overdose a small animal.

hopefully someone will be along soon who knows more.

its not something i would try to dilute down on my chooks

[muntjac]

ivermectin is ok but dont eat the eggs or meat .it werks similiar to frontline.a couple 3 drops of the product on the chickens neck close to the head .there has been a few cases where the cocks went infertile but i cant say its happened to me   my pheasants all worked thier socks off

[Aunt Sally]

Ivermectin is not licenced for poultry in the UK so there is no published egg/meat withdrawal time.  Did your vet give you any advice about this ?  As Munty says, don't eat the eggs or meat but you will have to ask the vet how long.

[Selkie]

thanks for the replies - he didn't say anything about not eating the eggs until i asked how long we should wait :roll:  -- then he said to leave it a week. we have to spray them again in two weeks (and then wait another week before we can use the eggs).

our vets are more used to dealing with sheep/cows; don't think they'd ever had someone come to them with lice on a hen...he had to do a bit of research before he gave us the stuff.

both girls have actually stopped laying at the moment so i guess it doesn't matter about the eggs. they WEREN'T happy at all about being sprayed but seem ok now.

does anyone have any idea of how fast this stuff works? i haven't looked to see if the lice have gone, thought it was better to leave the girls' feathers unruffled for a couple of days (they've been through enough!)

rosemary

[Selkie]

me again (isn't it a bit sad replying to your own post... :oops: )

i should say that he gave us undiluted ivermectin and said to dilute so much of it in so much water, to make up a spray and then to only spray 50ml of this dilution on each bird. the same with the stuff to spray in their house and over their bedding (but a stronger concentration)

just incase anyone thinks i've been spraying it undiluted on the girls

[muntjac]

i use it undiluted ....... couple drops on the birds necks ,,,,, and i wont touch the eggs for 4 weeks the meat for 2  mths after last application

[Selkie]

me again...

having sprayed the hens with the diluted solution a couple of weeks ago I've checked them over and can't see any lice on them now.

the vet said to re-apply the spray after two weeks but is this necessary if i can't see any creepy crawlies?

i don't have great confidence in my vet when it comes to poultry so i would really welcome feedback here!

thanks
rosemary

[Aunt Sally]

I'd retreat them if I were you.  It can take a week or so for the nymphs to hatch and they will be very small and hard to see.  Re treating will kill them and you will  not find you have a reinfestation in a few weeks time when the critters are big enough to see  :!:

[muntjac]

you may not see them but they can hide down on the follicles of the emerging feathers . spray anyways .. that way they wont be coming back in a hurry