Worms & Lice -help

[Fatimetta]

Hello!

I bought five chickens from a lady this summer without realizing they all had lice pretty bad. I've been treating them since August for lice and I can't get rid of the darn things. I'm pretty sure they are lice and not mites, although they may have those as well - who knows. I've used Permethrin to spray onto their bottoms and it worked on the young girls, but the oldest bird has it sooo bad and it won't go away. I know Elector PSP is an option, but I am just wondering in your experience how do I get rid of them for good?

I was planning on doing a natural dewormer for the birds with our pumpkin seeds, etc. However, today the broody came out and did her massive broody poop and it was filled with worms I know I've used Wazine in the past. I'm afraid if I do the natural method it won't get rid of all the worms. Please let me know what you use that works best.

These poor birds have been put through the ringer from this lady who sold them to me I told her about everything, and her response was that all birds have lice and it's normal.

Thank you for any help in advance!

 

[coach723]

Lice don't stay around the vent like mites sometimes will, they will go all over the bird. Did you also clean out and treat your coop? Lice tend to stay on the bird, mites do not and the coop also has to be cleaned out and treated. Lice and mites can cause anemia and severely weaken birds and in severe cases can cause death, so I would not consider them to be 'normal'.
These two links may be helpful:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/
http://extension.msstate.edu/publications/information-sheets/external-parasites-poultry
For the worms, if they are roundworms (do you have a picture of the worms?) then you will need to use a chemical wormer. Wazine has been discontinued, so if you don't have any remaining then I would use either Safeguard liquid goat wormer, or Valbazen. Safeguard is usually easy to find, Valbazen you will probably have to order. They are directly dosed to the bird orally with an oral syringe. Safeguard dose is .23ml per pound of weight, repeat in 10 days for roundworms (treatment is 5 days in a row for capillary or gapeworm). Valbazen dose is .08ml per pound of bird weight and repeat in 10 days.
Roundworms (if that's what they are) are very easily picked up in the environment, the eggs survive a very long time in the soil, so reinfection is common. If you have a heavy environmental load you may need to worm regularly to keep them under control and keep your birds healthy. I use both of them regularly and my birds are wormed every 3 -4 months due to the worm load in my environment. Every environment is different. This is what roundworms look like:

 

[Fatimetta]

Thank you! I believe they look like the worms in the picture you sent. Is there an egg withdrawal from either of the dewormers you recommended?
After looking through the mite/lice identification link, I'm pretty sure they are lice. I haven't seen any in the coop or on the roosts and I have treated the coop several times (at the same time I treat the birds). I've been treating the birds on their vent with the Permethrin, under their wings, and on the back of the neck. I haven't seen any lice in the feathers on their back. They were mostly concentrated around their vent. They are white and have a single black dot/stripe on them. They're pretty decent sized, not so tiny like mites.

And yes, I agree lice/mites is not a good sign nor normal so the lady who sold them to me is crazy. Ugh!

 

[coach723]

You might try a poultry dust rather than the spray, and see if you have better results.
General recommendation for egg withdrawl is 14 days following treatment for both Safeguard and Valbazen.
Edited to say: I understand that Elector PSP is very effective, but it is expensive.

 

[Rietta]

Elector PSP is very expensive, but the bottle lasts a long time. It only requires one treatment and I believe there is NO egg withdraw. IMO it was worth it, by the time I am done spending time/ money using other things. If the price is an option for you I would really suggest. We live in a heavily wooded area with lots of wild animals and though I have not found lice/ mites on my birds.. I suspected them due to itching and shaking so I treated and it helped a lot. Also used it in the coop, but I do dust in there for help with any bugs, like the ends of roosting bars. I use hay in my nest boxes and sometimes dust under that too. And I try really hard not to make it overkill either cause that is also bad. I have used safeguard and it worked really well, but I didn't dose each bird I did the water source and used fresh everyday. I got that from the chicken health handbook. Best of luck it can be so irritating, literally.

 

[Rietta]

 

[coach723]

Safeguard aquasol is designed to be mixed in the water - it is VERY expensive.
https://www.qcsupply.com/safeguard-aquasol-poultry.html
Other Safeguard suspensions will settle out in a water mixture and dose will not be correct. Even the label says to administer orally, and to shake well before use. Secondly, a bird with a load of worms may not drink enough to get the proper dose. Much better to give orally so you know that each bird got the correct, and effective, dose. If you consistently under-dose you will be breeding parasites that can become resistant to that drug.
There is one method of mixing it in food that does not require an egg withdrawl, I have never done it this way, but here is the info:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/safeguard-mash-zero-day-egg-withdrawal.1254653/

 

[Rietta]

Yes Thankyou for clarifying.. I have a friend who splits costs with me and we share. It works out nicely that way. both elector PSP and Safeguard.

 

[Fatimetta]

Thank you everyone! I have made a natural de-wormer until I can get my hands on one of the others. I'm going to ask around and see if anyone else has some Elector PSP I can buy for cheap from them. I've tried the dust too, but the birds are still covered in lice, so I think I'm just gonna go straight to the elector psp.

Thanks for all the help! Hopefully something will work.

 

[coach723]

I would be stunned senseless if the Elector PSP did not work. I would go ahead and clean out and re-treat your coop at the same time.