We Have a Bird Lice Problem

Getting rid of bird lice on our chickens using a permethrin dip while cleaning out the coop with diatamaceous earth

#chickens #birdlice

[p.b.]

Having a farm is a lot of hard work. To all the farmers out there thanks for all your hard work.

[Dr_V]

Grandma used to dip them in lime water. She also "painted" the entire coop with slaked lime paste inside and out once a year.

[annacobb]

Diatomaceous earth is a beast of a product. Chickens need this care and yall are good for doing things this way

[BaryonicMatter-ddig]

Thank you for sharing also the less glamorous parts of keeping chickens

[h.rutten]

Here in the Netherlands we use hydrated/ slake lime to paint the inside and outside of the chicken coops to stop the lice and we refresh this “paint” once a year.
Around the areas where chickens come in contact with the walls etc. We use agricultural lime which is not that caustic as hydrated lime.
so we use agricultural lime for the bottom two feet of the coup and hydrated lime for the rest of the inside and outside of the coop.

[candicerunyon]

One of the lesser liked of the un-liked animal husbandry tasks. . . but I am sure the chickens feel so much better when it's done. 👌

[amymanoharan]

On our poultry farm, we didn't use chemical dips. We treated it with DE (diatomaceous earth) which we put in their bedding, next boxes, ad provide them dust baths with it mixed it (and sand). We put that into kids wading pools in covered areas in good weather and let the chicken's dust themselves.

[grahamscott]

Glad to see some real homestead people taking real care of their animals welfare 👌🏼😊

[bibit]

They need a clean area for sand baths. That will prevent this from happening. The sand bath needs to get clean once or two per week. Poor chickens … they give so much and get so little in return.

[toriquill]

We resorted to topical ivermectin this year, and oh my gosh, it wiped them out! 4 drops per chicken, 2 for bantams.
Yes, we did have to throw the eggs away for a week, but we didn't have much in the first place cause it was so bad.
They were like super lice. Diatomaceous earth, lime, and permethrin didn't work like they used to, so it was a godsend to eradicate it. The girls are so fluffy and happy again 😊

[DisasterAstor]

Diatomaceous Earth will keep it's properties when soaked and then dried again. Another good preventative would be to dissolve it in water and use a pressurized sprayer with a fine mist. (Like the kind you use for weed treatments.) It can help get the diatomaceous earth into places that the powder dispensers have a harder time reaching like into cracks in the wood and any hidden corners.

[bigguscurlyus]

We have a small coop, once it was absolutely infested with mites, I had to get right in there to dust it with the treatment and got absolutely COVERED in them. It looked like my skin was literally crawling, under my clothes, in my ears and hair etc. Just had to stay calm and get on with it, luckily they can't live on humans.

[delta]

Why not give them a big diatomaceous earth area for dust baths? Chickens naturally love to roll in it.

[kerrydickey]

I always added DE to their nesting boxes. They dig in the boxes and get DE on their feet and feathers. Lucky they never got lice.

[HarrisCo-EG]

Cool anything to make the animals more comfortable!

[sargeinamerica]

I use the D earth for everything. Also I keep my coop as dry as possible and put D earth in the nesting boxes. Also use very clean sand for them to take a dust bath in with d earth mixed in. I only have 28 girls and in 17 years of having chickens only one has ever had bumble foot.

[Proxium]

my dumbahh thought she was waterboarding the chicken😂

[sandytmobile]

I have lot's of chicken's and my Ranch is on 98 acres with horrible wildlife and I use to do so much for my chickens even wash there house and powder no more . I took two old tires buried them half way in the ground then I take wood ash no nails and fill them. I also made a cover to toss over when it rains but take off fast when over my hens shake all over in them and don't have them close to a area you don't want dust . My girls are so happy ok very happy they use to pick on each other creating injuries. Happy birds yep .

[hMyLife]

Glad to see people taking proper care of their animals! Makes my heart happy!!! 😊❤

[OkayMaybe]

The bumble foot could be from the wiring bottom if they’re kept in the coop 24-7