Chicken LICE!

[seahorse]

I was giving Country a trace clip today... and to my horror chicken lice were running all about him! :arg! (I'm pretty sure they are the chicken variety of lice?) I thought he just had dry skin, because he looked better after I gave him a hot oil treatment. We didn't even know our chickens had lice, let alone that it is contagious to horses. Can other animals besides horses get chicken lice? I hope and pray not!

Any suggestions on which lice powder to use? I'm assuming it would be best to totally clip him now? We are going out of town Friday, so quick help would be appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

I just found lice today also while doing a head/neck clip!

I've never dealt with this before so I'm trying right now to find out how to treat - this horse and the rest of my barn!!! OH!

 

[MiLo Minis]

If it is cold enough where you are that you only wanted to trace clip I wouldn't clip him entirely. If he is severely infested with lice he will already be slightly debilitated and to add a chill to that would not be a good idea. You can get lice powder at your feed/livestock supply store. Wear plastic gloves while applying it liberally now and again in a couple of weeks. I would give him a dose of ivermectin wormer right now as well. Doesn't it just give you the crawlies???

Chicken lice can attack both chickens and horses but don't bother with much else apparently. Hope this helps. Good luck!

 

[albahurst]

To treat lice, our vet recommended (and it worked GREAT!):

Durasect 2 - run 5 cc (ml) down the spine of your horse. Be sure that it gets to the skin. I clipped a path down the spine to get under all that hair. If your horse has a really bad case of lice, you may have to repeat it in exactly 28 days.

We had this last year and the Durasect worked great- it was inexpensive, too, if I recall. We treated all the horses in contact with the infected horse.

Good luck!

Peggy

 

[h2t99]

If you have birds then it is common to have the lice!! I dust my horses every winter!! I was told to put a dish of dust out and the chickens will dust themselves

I have not tried it though!!! It does give ya the creepy crawlies but I have found not that uncommon with minis and donkeys!! So yes I just go ahead and dust!! You can get it at TSC and its not that expensive!! Make sure you do it again in 2 weeks to catch the eggs when they hatch!!

 

[Marty]

Queen of Lice, at your service.........VARRRRRRRRROOOOOOOMMMMMM

I was watching my horse one day,

I love to watch her when she's at play.

I noticed she began to scratch on a tree,

Her mane and tail was driving her absolutely crazy!

I brought her in to have a real good look.

I was disgusted with what I saw, and that's all it took

.It was lice sucking and biting at her,

This cannot be happening in her beautiful fur!

But it was true, and they had to go,

I declared war on them right away you know,

so if you have some, don't worry & take my advice

,and that will be the end of these horrible lice.

This is what I did to make them leave,

Just come along with me, and roll up your sleeves.

It's not hard, we'll make them go away,

just get some supplies and start right away

I de-wormed with Ivermectrin-

but that's not always enough to get them

Then dust away with de-lousing powder on it,

open the hairs up and get in there where they sit.

And then get a little lice comb that comes with RID,

and comb them out good, that's what I did.

And after that you can shampoo with flea suds

I used Sargents and got it all over my duds

You can spray the RID too if you choose,

or use their shampoo, you can't loose

And then the trick is to repeat some of this,

in 7 to 10 days and you're horse will be in bliss.

And check for the eggs, yes they lay eggs too,

but in a few days, they won't hatch now for you.

Cause you've clobbered the ugly beasties on your horse

And he's so grateful for all that relief, of course.

But you must dis-infect all your grooming tools now.

Be sure you don't forget that halter too, wow!

And you need to really check yourself too,

cause those nasty buggars could have jumped onto you!

 

[barefoot]

I am sure the stuff made for lice is the best, but my vet uses Sevin-10 which is an insecticide. She puts it on her goats and reccommended it for fleas too. I guess it is quite safe.

found an article

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livest...s/info_lice.htm

Emma

LOVE! the poem Marty

 

[Flatbroke Farms]

I dust them with Sevin-10. Works like a charm!

 

[seahorse]

After seeing more louse pictures, I think he actually has horse bitting lice? They are tan with red/brown head and a longer body, they *might* have had stripes on the body? I'm going to try and find some Durasect 2, that seems better than powder that would fly every ware.

How should I disinfect a natural horse-hair brush?

Also, I also found a tick on Country and there was a raised bump where it was. Does that mean he is allergic to ticks?

Sigh... I hate parasites.

LOL, neat poem Marty!

Thank ya'll so much for answering my questions.

 

[Mona]

You can also buy Permectrin CDS from JeffersEquine.com. It works the same way...apply a line of it at the withers and near the tail. It's a thick oily stuff, and works much the same way as the stuff for dogs.

 

[vickisminis]

Hello, Thanks for giving the detailed description of the "horse biting lice". One of my older mares has been scratching her neck raw. I shaved her head and neck and saw exactly what you described. I have asked several people what they thought they were and no one could come up with an answer. So now I am off to JeffersEquine.com to get the stuff Mona recommended. Thanks again

 

[royalview]

vacuuming every ten days before you redust also helps get deep down, Just make sure to throw away the vacuum bag every time or they will live in there too!! Good luck. Kath

 

[ClickMini]

Marty!!!! Good one.

 

[Walbon Acres]

Lice are species specific, so they are really horse lice. I always thought they were bird lice also but my Vet told me otherwise. Sevin dust is good and also worm with Ivermectrin and then again in 2 weeks. That should help!

 

[Lucky-C-Acres-Minis]

Well you can add me to the list of having to deal with lice too, ugh, foal clipped the girls and found some creepy crawlies OH!

And I can bet you the culprits are the banty hen and rooster who find it necessary to roost in the horse barn instead of the chicken coop like all the others

Lice are species specific, so they are really horse lice. I always thought they were bird lice also but my Vet told me otherwise

Yes they are typically species specific but we were told by our vets that they will find the warmest possible environment, and I can bet you that the horses' winter coats are a lot warmer than riding around on a chicken

If you have birds then it is common to have the lice!! I dust my horses every winter!! I was told to put a dish of dust out and the chickens will dust themselves

Hmm will have to put out a dish after I dust the girls for the two banties and hope they give themselves dust-bathes

 

[flamingstar]

Put me on the itchy list as well, my poor little guy has scratched the hair off both sides of his neck. dusted, and need to do so again.