The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: nic99 on April 11, 2012, 04:51:03 pm
-
After diagnosing one of chickens with just about everything under the sun, from being an internal layer, to egg bound, to coccicidosis, I have finally discovered what is actually wrong with her. She is absolutely crawling with lice, covered in them! I feel all itchy after handling her. I feel like I need to take a shower. I don't know why I didn't think about checking before, it seems so obvious now. And I am really pleased that it is something so easily treatable and that I didn't completely convince myself of my earlier theories and dispatch her. It is so difficult to identify a problem when the symptoms for so many illnesses in chickens are exactly the same!
Luckily I had some xeno 450 left over from when my rabbits had mites, which is licensed for use in birds so swiftly treated her with that. Can't see any sign of lice on the others but they will get a thorough dusting of diatom powder when it arrives in the post.
Any idea about how species specific these lice are? Should I dust the ducks too do you think? Or just their house?
-
Been there, done that! Disgusting aren't they? I'm afraid I don't know about ducks.
-
Not too sure but if it were me, I would dust everything just in case. That would include the kids and the OH too ;)
-
Yep, weve had them too. Tried all the herbals and diatomous earth but got something a little stronger from the vet in the end!
Some of my hens were crawling and others from the same coop were hardly affected. ???
I was told the wild birds or pheasants would bring them in, so I would guess the ducks could get them.
None of my hens appeared at all ill or listless though. Found them in my daughters hair first after one of her hen cuddling sessions. :o ;D ;D ;D
-
We had a couple who seemed prone to them and the rest never got any but the few who did were all the same species - scots dumpy's. I had to really keep on top of their treatments all the time though x
-
A vet told me that animals succumbed to lice because they were under the weather. That there were often/always lice but that a healthy animal's immune system kept them under control on the whole.
So you may not have been wrong to look at what else was going on with her. Though I'm sure she'll be glad to have help with the little buggers.
I got my hair full of red mite once - don't think I've ever been so glad of a shower <shuddering even now :D>
-
Interesting Jaykay - it was my very old hybrids that had lots. They seemed very healthy but were old ladies.
Friesians and peekins none at all.
A friends hens have had them recently and again certain breeds affected more than others.
-
As far as I know they are confined to birds in general with certain species host specific with some crossovers. So Turkey head lice can also be found on chickens and very difficult to get rid of. Feather lice sit on the shafts of the wing feathers and the ones you describe are common lice which run around a lot, are big enough to see and are easy to remove. Even louse powder gets rid of them. They eat dead skin and the most damage they do is to stick their eggs to the base of the feathers which then get dirty and look a mess. Someone told me they are good defence against Northern mites because they eat them, so they always allow a few lice on their birds as protection!
-
Yep, it's definitely the common lice. They were running about all over her. Poor love. She is an ex-commercial hybrid from a free range farm. About 3 years old. Interestingly I read that they are more prone to them if they are de-beaked, as they cannot preen themselves properly, which all of mine are (came that way, I am not evil). I can see how the lice might be a secondary problem to something else. Hopefully we can clear them up quickly though and then investigate further if she is still unwell. I also read somewhere on the web (so not neccesarily true) that lice can do harm and make them unwell, as they feel so uncomfortable and miserable with them that it stops them from eating properly, which then leads to mucky bums, malnourishment etc. With the number she has on her, I expect she is feeling very itchy and miserable indeed! She seems no better this morning, I guess the xeno won't have taken affect yet. It is ivermectin based. Any idea how long it takes for it to kill the buggers?
I will definitely dust the ducks with diatom when it arrives too. They are easy enough to catch, so may as well. It's dusting the rooster that will be the fun part! It will be good for him though, hopefully put him in his place a bit. He has taken to attacking me recently, full on jumping on my head style, despite repeatedly being threatened with the oven. If he draws blood, it's curtains!
-
The trick with that rooster, is to carry him around under your arm every day, wrapped in something so his feet can't scratch. It makes the point that you are bigger and the boss.
Ideally, what he's wrapped in should be a pink cardigan, so as to upset his macho image too ;)
-
I dont like using any chemicals unless really necessary. Tried various things from the agri store, including diatomous earth - nothing got rid of the blighters. My friend has reduced lice numbers on her infected hens by repeated applications of d. earth but they are still there. The vet gave me Deosect. Probably a really horrid chemical :( but it did kill them immediately. :thumbsup:
-
Oh god :-)
And there was me telling you to send her on the other thread. Wot a knob I am:-D
Thank god you ignored that :-))
Hope getting the lice sorted will put an end to her problems :-)
-
Couple of squirts of pyrethum based Johnsons cat or dog flea spray kills them instantly. Spray under vent both sides and the lice die as they pass through the area. Not to be applied where there is broken skin or anywhere near the head. Then use louse powder every couple of weeks to keep them away -they should be given a good check over every month anyway Nic99.