We bought three hens in March, and last week on inspecting them (they had been shaking their heads a lot) I discovered they had lice. I applied some louse powder bought from Marriages (it has no chemicals in it) twice, but they still have them and the infestation seems to be getting worse. Can you please advise the best course of action to erradiate the lice, I just collected the eggs this morning and found 4 lice on my hands!
Ta
Hen Lice
Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter
Hi WK,
If you personally had lice would you buy something that would cure the problem? Of course you would! Your chickens deserve to be free of lice and there are several preparatory cures and they entail the use of chemicals.
When dealing with vermin it is no good trying to avoid chemicals.
There are many so called treatments for just about every complaint that are 'chemical free' and they simply do not do the job they say they do.
My advice is to be sensible and treat your birds with something that will for sure get rid of the lice before the whole situation gets totally out of hand.
JB.
If you personally had lice would you buy something that would cure the problem? Of course you would! Your chickens deserve to be free of lice and there are several preparatory cures and they entail the use of chemicals.
When dealing with vermin it is no good trying to avoid chemicals.
There are many so called treatments for just about every complaint that are 'chemical free' and they simply do not do the job they say they do.
My advice is to be sensible and treat your birds with something that will for sure get rid of the lice before the whole situation gets totally out of hand.
JB.
Do they have someewhere to dustbath too? Need to do nestboxes, etc with it too.
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Diane
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I use frontline (cat) spray on my hens. One squirt under each wing and a squirt up the knicker area. It's not licenced for poultry - but it works for me. Or, try Johnson's anti-mite spray from the pet shop.
'Preserve wildlife - pickle a rat'
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whimsical Kitten
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Thanks Diane, your practical advice is rather more helpful than opinions and questions.
A quick note for any other folk experiencing similar problems, further searches have indicated that chemical approachs such as pyrethroid and malathion treatments can pose significant health risks to humans and wildlife and besides not everyone wishes to solve such problems by using highly toxic chemicals. The non chemical powder treatments such as the one I was using seen to have limited effects and are mainly preventative and also need to be repeated regularly. You can trying picking off the lice and their eggs and washing the affected hens in a warm salt water bath but you must wrap them in a towel and carefully dry off before letting them back outside as they cannot easily reguate their body temperature and this will need to be done frequently, so I am not sure if subjecting a hen to regular bathing is a good idea. There are other products such as Sevin and Duramitex. You must also treat the house when treating the hens.
I hope this information is of use.
Happy hen-keeping.
A quick note for any other folk experiencing similar problems, further searches have indicated that chemical approachs such as pyrethroid and malathion treatments can pose significant health risks to humans and wildlife and besides not everyone wishes to solve such problems by using highly toxic chemicals. The non chemical powder treatments such as the one I was using seen to have limited effects and are mainly preventative and also need to be repeated regularly. You can trying picking off the lice and their eggs and washing the affected hens in a warm salt water bath but you must wrap them in a towel and carefully dry off before letting them back outside as they cannot easily reguate their body temperature and this will need to be done frequently, so I am not sure if subjecting a hen to regular bathing is a good idea. There are other products such as Sevin and Duramitex. You must also treat the house when treating the hens.
I hope this information is of use.
Happy hen-keeping.