Natural lice remedy.. too upsetting?

[Chickenwithnobrim]

I am in Canada, and if anybody lives here, they know how hard it is to find pest control. Long story short, im pretty sure my previously stray chicken has lice and has passed it to my other chicken (found a louse crawling next to her eye). I can only assume they are both infested. I only have two, as I unexpectedly rescued the first and got the second to keep her company. I read that a way to get rid of lice is to soak the birds in a water/dawn solution and then when they dry, to dust them with DE. It has to be done multiple times (2-3 times a week) until there's no more lice, but I feel this may be too traumatic for the birds? The rescue girl HATES to be held and will struggle so hard it's like fighting a wrestler, and the other is so shy and scared she lets me hold her, but breaths so heavy and if I hold her to long she seems to pant. I don't want to ruin my relationship with them, or stress them out to the point of health issues. Any advice is super appreciated, thank you so much

 

[Chickstarrs]

Following, as I too live in Canada and would love to know how to deal with this if I find myself in the same situation.

 

[Folly's place]

I think all that bathing can't be good either, too much stress, and no natural oils left on their feathers. DE is bad to inhale, and has limited effectiveness, and is open pit mined, not so nice.
Here we use permethrin, spray or in winter the dust. I don't know what you can get in Canada, sorry. The other approved product for chickens in the USA is spinosad, available here by mail order, and very very much more expensive.
And there's nothing 'natural' about any soap or detergent! Dawn is a very good product, but your birds are not appreciating all those baths.
Mary

 

[Chickenwithnobrim]

I think all that bathing can't be good either, too much stress, and no natural oils left on their feathers. DE is bad to inhale, and has limited effectiveness, and is open pit mined, not so nice.
Here we use permethrin, spray or in winter the dust. I don't know what you can get in Canada, sorry. The other approved product for chickens in the USA is spinosad, available here by mail order, and very very much more expensive.
And there's nothing 'natural' about any soap or detergent! Dawn is a very good product, but your birds are not appreciating all those baths.
Mary

This is what I kind of figured. Looks like I'll probably be doing a vet visit and bite the bullet. I can't get sporasin, all though Id love to try it. I can't use permethrin because of all the cats we have in the area (including my own). Hopefully the vet will be able to help me

 

[Chickstarrs]

Let us know how it goes and what the vet suggests.

 

[Folly's place]

We spray our birds at night, off their roosts, using a small flashlight. Also it would be good to empty the coop and spray it top to bottom, all with permethrin. We have cats too, and they are closed out of the coop and run until everything is dry. It's fine then. There's nearly no drama if you do them while roosting!
Mary

 

[Chickenwithnobrim]

Okay, this might be the way to go. My only problem... Finding a supplier, and hoping it sneaks through customs to Canada

 

[cmom]

Can you order it online? I have used Horse and Stable which is permethrin spray. I also use poultry dust in the nest boxes. Some garden dusts have permethrin. Good luck...

 

[aart]

I think @Ted Brown used sulfur?

 

[Ted Brown]

I think @Ted Brown used sulfur?

Yes, originally was using liquid permethrin as a spray but the temperatures got too low so I needed a powder based substitute and found many references to sulfur. Note that it must be 95% pure. Generally easy to find at feed stores in 50lb bags; not expensive.

I used it to dust the birds in the usual places - vent, under wings, back and on the breast. I also used it in my dust baths and rigged up a small underwear laundry bag with sulfer over their pop door so that they brush it as they come/go. Multiple applications over a few weeks.

My mites were Northern Fowl in case it matters.

Good luck.