What is the best way to rid my hens of lice? I have the straw-colored varmits. I've dipped my chickens and got rid of most of them. What should the coop be sprayed with?

Getting rid of "most" isn't good enough. You have to get all. You might have to dip/dust them again. Follow directions on the can. In the meantime, you got to get rid of the buggers in the coop. I think my coop and hens had a different kind of lice, but using tons of bleach, Lysol and new bedding did the trick. Be sure to air everything out as to not suffocate your chickens.

You should spray the chickens with Permectrin II (spray the feathers at the vent, under each wing, and under the hackles) and then clean out the coop and spray it with the same product (a different mix ratio). An 8 oz. container is concentrated and will do several treatments. Also paint the roosts with a mixture of 1 part kerosene and 2 parts linseed oil, to deter any future creepy crawlers.

Ugh.... my coop was plagued by lice last summer. And it looks like they're back again! ugh. Time to break out the lysol, bleach and dusting powder again. I'm really annoyed.
Not only that, I found a huge black widow spider in my shed.

i'm a newbee at this. what are the symptoms of chickens with parasites, or what do the parasits look like?

Straw-colored lice?! I thought that the bugs that I found clinging to the shafts of my chicken's neck feathers were fleas, but they were sort of straw-colored (almost translucent). How do I tell the difference? Is there a difference in how I treat them?

I sucessfully squelched lice on a few of my chickens by dusting all of them 2x a day for 4 days with a mixture of cornstarch baby powder and sulphur powder, about a 2:1 ratio; plus I cleaned out the coop thoroughly and scrubbed down the roosts with a bleach-soap solution. Even the non-pet birds seemed to enjoy the dusting.
My chickens all seem healthy enough, but my favorite, a Ginger Red Bantam hen about 6 yrs old has had her comb & wattle pale considerably. It has been suggested that I de-worm my birds. I would appreciate some advice and feedback on this before I feed my birds poisons!

Dear Deborah W.

Let me tell you my almost sad story-and anyone else whose chickens it might help. I have hens about 7 months old-very healthy and not a single skin parasite on the lot. I use chicken mite powder besides keeping a very clean coop. I change the straw in the nesting boxes daily and deep clean the coop about once a month. I keep mite powder around the perimeter of the indoor chicken house and on the roosts.

But here's the bad part-my hens had round worms (there are seven different kinds, but they can't test for the exact one unless they do an autopsy. My hen was not yet dead, so I did not think it necessary!) How I discovered it was this: my big hen, "Holly" was walking really funny and stumbling. Her comb and around her eyes was a funny yellow color. She is not yet laying, so it was not from a lot of eggs laid. I picked her up and she had gone to skin and bones-her chest bone was sharp and pointy. I was worried and got all my chicken books out and called several people. No help from this, the books just said when you see a chicken with symptoms it is usually too late. I read about all the dread diseases and was really worried, being new at this.

However, we are lucky to have a few avian vets in silicon valley. I took her in along with a fecal sample. They hydrated her and took a blood sample and ran some other tests. She could not stand on her own by this time, and had stopped eating and drinking. She was only four pounds. Well, the test results came back and it was round worms that nearly killed her. And birds go downhill fast if you don't already know. So we treated her and have her on antibiotics and a sort of "bird ex-lax" that we give her orally. It has been a week now and she is walking again, eating and drinking on her own. She is clucking and trying to scratch (she still falls over when she does that). Every day I can see progress. We have also dosed the other hens so they will be getting healthier too. They were getting thin also, but not sick like Holly.

So if you even think you have worms do not wait. Take a fecal sample to a vet for testing ASAP. If your hens have an over abundance of worms, it does not take but a few days for it to be deadly.

Believe it or not, it has cost me $400 to save my hen, and she is not even laying yet. Not everyone would opt for this, but please learn from my expensive and scary experience. If your birds have TOO many worms, the "poisons" are the least of your worry-you will lose your bird without treatment.

CAN ANYONE HELP.
I have 6 chickens various breeds and a rooster. they are all adult birds. my problem is that everyone keeps telling me to worm them regularly but I am new to this and it started out as my daughters school project and has turned into my hobbie. How much wormer do I give them and how often. The bottle is to confusing it has instructions for fifty or more chickens and gallons of water. I am not sure how to break it down.

help. parasite on the cone of my chickens?
On the cones of my 8 sexlinks, there are tiny black dot looking things. Is this a parasite or is it something else. My dominiques (4) don't have it yet.
Thanks.
Krudedog

It's not likely to be a parasite on the comb. Could these be tiny picked places where blood has dried? Could someone else have had a cut or picked area which sprayed a little blood when the head was shaken? Pick at one of these places and see what is underneath. Let us know if you find anything untoward.

Just wanted to warn everyone of the horror I just went through.I keep a clean coop and they have nothing else but these fleas tore them up.They are called the Southern Chicken Flea and they are horrible.They start on the comb leaving sores and then work down to the eyes if your not fast enough they can cause blindness.
I'm treating mine with sevin dust as a book recomended.Cross my fingers.Anyone else had this problem???Hope not it was bad..
cp

"Mule Team" a powdery laundry booster used for washing clothes is a great parasite killer. Sprinkle lightly on new clean bedding and say good-bye to lice! Its excellent at controlling odor and it won't harm the chix.

Please help. This is my 4th set of chickens they all come down with the same thing.The hen about 9mo to 1 year old.they start losing there feathers on there backs right where the tail feathers start. get bare and real red. I had 10 hens and 1 rooster all the same age,and same kind. some are worse then others ,I have two that looks like they are all rightso far. Last year we didnot have any. but 2 yesr age .I had 20 hens and 2 roosters all the same. the same thing happen.2 years ago i took one to a vet for dogs. but he could not tell me any thing.I real enjoy my chickens. the rooster i killed and tryed to eat. but his skin was so thick and tought.i fried the legg and breast but was so tought you couldnot eat at all.so about being so long Please help E mail Me At DOODLES024 @AOL.com

Doodle, Can't really help much without seeing your situation. Are your chickens crowded, do they have dry, clean bedding, like pine or cedar shavings in their coop?. Or are they outside in bare, dusty or muddy run? Do they have a "dusting" box with dry soil or a dry dusting hole outside?

If you butcher a bird over 5-6 months, frying won't give you nice tender meat like a 3-5 mos old bird. They must be slow roasted or best, simmered with dumplings or in a recipe for stewing, slow cooking. Then there is lots of flavor. If the meat is still tough, a food chopper will make it useful for sandwich spread or added to the broth which makes a fine soup stock. CJR

2nd year at this to begain with,first one was great but now we have a rooster that has sore feet and the head one at that! he still walks on them but with a limp he eats good and still holds his own in the pen, his feet are a little red and his toes are really swollen and lost 2 nails so far. can some one help with problem???

Found some tiny bugs on chickens, sand colored probobly lice huh? Living in the south and looking for treatment? Also have a chick with growth on beak area looks like a wart any ideas?

Hens need help. Took 2 hens to the vet today and he said that i was forced eggs production .thay started laying about 6 mo old and have never stop laying . I have 10 hens and i get 6 to 8 eggs aday. they are 1 &1/2 yr old now. i have fed laying mash since 4 mo old with cracked corn and scruch.the vet said they should layfor a few day then rest. is that true. what is the laying time and resting time. how do i controll this. they run on 6 ac.

Your vet doesn't know much about backyard poultry, IMHO. Why did you take them to the vet? Is there a health problem of some kind? If hatched in January, all other things remaining equal, they should begin to lay at 4-5 months, and lay until they are about 15 months old, then moult for 1-3 months. At that point they should resume laying and lay for about nine more months before beginning the second moult. At the beginning of the second moult, many backyard poultry people put the hens in the freezer for stewing. They will lay some after the second moult, but never produce the quantity they have up to that point.
Six to eight eggs a day from ten hens their age is very good, and suggests you are doing things very well. If you are in a temperate climate in the northern hemisphere, you should expect them to moult soon. I believe in improving feed and nutrient intake to combat the moult, so don't skimp on their feed when they start.
It is a sign that their nutrient levels are fluctuating if they lay a few days, and then stop laying. This is what you would expect to happen if you were feeding good layer mash, then gave them all the grain they wanted for a few days. The reduced protein in their diets would affect their egg output, and going back to good layer mash would be the best course of action.

Hi Dr.Bruce. thanks for the info. i have a post on there telling what my proplem is Dated April 7.
they never got any better ,they look aufull they have a 3in triangle on there backs. thats is real red..i keep a vary clean chicken house and run. i am at my last witts end. I contacted the Dept of Agreculture At Reyonldsburg.they told me i had to go to a vet and they would have to sent it to the lab. so that what i Did . the Vet said the hens had no parasite external or internel. ANd didnot need to go to the lab.he exzamed them and some poop under the microcope. ANd charge me 137.00 for a 2.00 hen.i guess i need my head exzamed. iam retired on SS and dont have that kind of money, he said the office call was 28.00 so i thought it would cost about 38.00 ,ten for the poop micro.plus 28.00. but i would not be so mad, but didnot get a good answer.do you know where i could send a hen to be ckecked that would not cost me a arm and leg. WE only raised chicken to enjoy and eat their eggs.we really our girls.thanks for any info. you can Email me at Doodles024@aol.com thanks doodle

Doodle:
There is nothing wrong with your hens. A combination of age and rooster behavior causes this loss of feathers on their backs, and the skin turns red when exposed to the light. Most of our hens (1 1/2 years old) are just now getting pinfeathers as part of the process of feathering in this area on their backs. They have been bare there for most of the winter. It's perfectly normal and happens all the time. The length of time it takes them to get their feathers back seems to vary from year to year. They are laying well and behaving normally, from what you have described.

Doodle and Dr. Bruce (my 1st time writing)
My husband and I currently have one rooster and 18 hens, all 14 months old.
I can relate to the loss of feathers and red skin. Last fall, I had 5 roosters and 18 hens. A good number of the hens developed this symptom over the winter months. Do to the winter, we reduced their running room from 3 acres to a pen of less than 400 sq. foot. It was obvious to us that we had too many roosters wanting to strut their stuff. Therefore my husband and I were forced to harvest 4 of our roosters.
I have noticed some of the hens are growing in new feathers, however the more attention-getting hens are not.
netteG

can people get lice from chickens?

Can someone tell me if a product that kills lice will also kill mites? I've looked for powder containing pyrethins, but all I can find is my area is louse powder with rotenone. Will this work for all the 'bugs?'
Thanks

Sevin dust works for both lice and mites I've heard. I have never had a problem with lice of mites so I have never tried it but I know that A lot of people use it with good results. I hope this helps.

People CANNOT get lice from chickens. Lice are very species specific so you have no need to worry.