I recently posted under breed discussions about my new bantam eggs I purchased online. Well Today as I was looking through the windows of the incubator with a flashlight, I noticed one single lice on an egg. It was circling the egg. Can I dust the eggs while in the incubator, and if I can't kill them all, will the babies become infected upon hatching, and if so can I dust them after they have dried from hatching, or how long should I wait?
Melysa, Do not dust the eggs IN the incubator, but remove the eggs and dust them one by one--will not harm the chicks in the eggs. Wipe it as well as you can, as the dust and humidity would not be good for the eggs and y ou do not need to get all the dust off.
If you're seeing LICE and not MITES, I don't think I would do anything. Lice aren't blood suckers. They munch on feathers. They need a warm bodied bird to hang out on in order to survive. They might not survive the incubator environment -- not sure about that. They don't infest housing, nest boxes, brooders, people or other pets. I think I'd just keep an eye on the situation in the incubator and if necessary, dust the chicks very lightly after they are hatched, dry and maybe have been fed and watered.
Update: I killed the now two lice I found in incubator on egg, then took all eggs out and wiped them off and put them into a homemade incubator that I hurriedly made. I have cleaned out the other incubator, dusted it and recleaned it. Didn't notice any other lice. Waiting on its temperature to come back to normal. I plan on re-entering the eggs back into it tomorrow. Hope this works and I don't lose my eggs. It is only first week of incubation so shouldn't be a problem. No different than opening it to turn eggs. Wish me luck!
By Cjeanr on Thursday, April 11, 2002 - 01:01 am:
Mites love warmth, that is why I have trouble with my heated houses in winter, they can explode in numbers if not constantly watched for. They indeed will multiply on the newly hatched chicks and drive them wild--can make chicks anemic in just a few days. Most Poultry Dust is not for baby chicks, so get the mites before the chicks hatch! But you can shake a little dust on their bedding when they first hatch, avoiding food and water. And best only for the first day or two, as they start eating their bedding right away! Good luck (and good eyesight!) CJR
By Susie (Susied) on Thursday, April 11, 2002 - 08:22 am:
Susie
By Melysa on Thursday, April 11, 2002 - 04:14 pm: