[Sue33]

it seems my three girls have lice, i had one on my lap last week and saw one on her, I later had some in my hair, eeeeewwwww it was 'orrible, my scalp felt itchy and I said to hubby have I got anything in my hair, when he looked he said there's about 3 or 4 of them in there, luckily he got them all out, they are tiny, kind of see-through.  So..... I treated all three girls with the diatom (great fun  ) and gave the coop a good clean out and added more diatom.  So couple of days, same thing (though none in the hair) saw one crawling on one of the girls, so, more diatom, made sure they had it all over them, funny tho they didn't seem to enjoy the attention! 

Sorry, long story, last night saw lice again on one of the girls, so what to do?  More diatom?  Anything else I can do? 
Help please 

[Vember]

For lice a quick cure is Johnstons anti mite spray, you can get it at most petshops, it's for budgies

Will only kill live lice so a repeat spray a week later will catch the freshly hatched ones

For a one stop, kill eggs and lice I use frontline (not registered for use on poultry) Kills everything zip bam dead

Sarah

[nzdunn]

I use the johnsons anti mite extra aswell, easier than powder      nickyx

[Flowerpower136]

Sorry to push in on this, but......

I'm a bit confused about lice treatment.

I thought using Diotom regularly all over the place, espcially in the nest boxes, would keep a lid on lice?  Do I need to sprinkle bedding with lice powder as well as a deterant? 

[Sue33]

Hi flowerpot, I use diatom weekly when I clean out the coop but obviously this hasn't been good enough, I was SO surprised when I first saw the little blighters    make u wonder if the stuff is any good, they've had 2 applications all over as well    but the bu**ers are still on them

[Flowerpower136]

Thanks for that Sue.

Will have to add lice powder to the hen dispensary.  I cann't believe how much stuff they have got, and they haven't even arrived yet!

Or maybe I'll wait, and we what you recommend.

I think I've been told about Johnson's powder (nice smell - might use it myself!), and the spray, which sounds a bit more businesslike, but you have to forego eggs for 2 days? Might have got that wrong.  It's all becoming a bit of a blur!

[joyfull]

My vet prescribed frontline spray for me to use on my chickens and there is no withdrawal period with frontline 

[nzdunn]

My vet prescribed frontline spray for me to use on my chickens and there is no withdrawal period with frontline 

Joyful i thought there was a withdrawal period because of it not being licensed for poultry, im confussed now, with the johnsons anit mite spray, theres no withdrawal period for that product is there, im sure i was told there wasnt.    nickyx

[joyfull]

apparently any chemicals in it do not pass through to the eggs so no egg withdrawal necessary, same with flubenvet for worming. However if you use flubenvet on meat birds then there is a 7 day withdrawal period but as for frontline I'm not sure as I only asked my vet when I ordered my frontline about the egg side of it. Not used Johnsons so can't answer about that. joyxx

[Sue33]

can you buy frontline in high st shops or only available from vets?

[Flowerpower136]

My vet prescribed frontline spray for me to use on my chickens and there is no withdrawal period with frontline 

Joyful i thought there was a withdrawal period because of it not being licensed for poultry, im confussed now, with the johnsons anit mite spray, theres no withdrawal period for that product is there, im sure i was told there wasnt.    nickyx

Nicky, don't take any notice of me...complete Newbie.  I'm sure someone told me that about lice spray, but it might not have been Johnson's.  Think I'll use Johnson's power for general scattering in the nest box, along with the Diatom, and if they get them, then use Frontline spray........I think!

[joyfull]

some shops are licenced to sell it and you have to sign for it. A shop near us sells the drops but not the spray. If you buy the drops get the one for kittens (ours will not sell it to you if you say it's for chickens - as I found out  ) so thats why I get the spray from my vet - again you have to sign for it. Luckily she has read up on chickens as there are a lot of us in Lincolnshire with just a few hens - I blame Grannie Annie for that  Somewhere on here there is a sticky by Aunt Sally (think it's in the poultry info bit) that explains the dosage for the drops and other alternatives

[SMD66]

I had a frontline type treatment from a poultry vet that was licensed for poultry, (obviously) It was a drop on the back of the neck type stuff.  It DID have a 7 day egg withdrawl.  I could check the active ingredient against the frontline I have for the dogs but that would mean me traipsing down the filed to the shed where the hen stuff is to have a look.  As it's raining cats and dogs I'm not going to do that right now. 
Anyway, what I am trying to say is that there seems to be conflicting advice on whether or not frontline spot-on had an egg withdrawl period.  I personally would err on the side of caution and not eat the eggs for 7 days.
 I would be surprised if the stuff that was licensed for hens wasn't safe and the stuff that wasn't licensed for hens was!
hope that makes sense.  :blink:

[SarahJC]

Sue33, I'm having a problem shifting feather lice, which look like big midgies that fly about in the summer. I used Diatom and Barrier Louse Powder to shift the normal lice (hopefully!). Sprinkled it on them and in the nest boxes and along their perch. We got covered in it too and the hens got paler and paler  :DI'm waiting for some Johnsons lice spray from one of our pet shops. He said things have gone crazy with the lice spray, so maybe it's been the hot weather or something.

Flowerpower136, I seem to have a shelf that looks like a mini vets. Looks like a little hen dispensary! Perfect description you gave!

[Sue33]

i was really disappointed that the diamtom didn't get rid of them, i thought it was supposed to be great stuff, was half wondering if replies would say treat them every day for a week or something along those lines but no-one has spoken up for diatom itself.  I'll have to get to the shops this weekend and get frontline or the johnsons powder although I'd rather not have to withdraw the eggs