External Parasites

[Peckedhen]

Hi, I got some new birds last week and today i've noticed what i think are lice!  Little brown thin lines on the feathers a bit like a wood splinter.  Is that what they are and what do I treat them with? Will I need treat my original birds too and the loft?  Two of the birds are young squeakers - 24days old, is it safe to traet them too?  One last question.........do they go on humans?  Eeeek!

[Guest Doostalker]

Pecked hen, sorry to say but yes they are lice. They are easy got rid of though. Your local pet shop should have or be able to get you some proprietary spray. You can spray them under the wings and that should do it.

 

Most sprays contain Pyrethrins or synthetic Pyrethrin called Permethrin. They are usable on pigeons of most ages, but read the instructions carefully. As for the lice, whilst you might get them on your hands when handling the birds, they do not like humans....we ain't got feathers.

 

Hope this helps.

[Peckedhen]

Thanks Doostalker.  I haven't stopped itching since I saw them! ;D ;D

[MsPigeon]

I would add that it's a good idea to also spray your other pigeons and their pearches.

Carol

[speedbird]

good point ms pigeon

[Guest shadow]

I use the feather drops from harkers you just put  two drops between the shoulder blades of the pigeon. Job done a lot easeir than spraying and you can do it single handed and you are not breathing any of the spray in

 

fly hard fly fair.

[Guest Doostalker]

Shadow, I would agree with you that the Ivomectin based drops would be a good bet to get rid of the lice, and at the same time kill off internal parasites. However, I am not sure how available these are in the general pet shop, and know that most shops carry sprays. Locally I cannot get the drops, but if I send off to one of the advertisers in the weeklies I can get them there. Or again at the big shows, or direct from Boddy & Ridewood.

 

I know that Peckedhen is new to the sport and may not have access to the weeklies etc, hence my advice for her to get a spray. As Carol points out too, the advantage with the spray is that you can use it to treat the environs of the loft too, which reduces the chance of re infection. Vermin-X drops and Duramitex would work well in the loft too, but have stricter controls on use near the birds.

 

If she can get both Ivomectin (type) drops and spray she is on to a winner.

[Peckedhen]

Thanks guys. I've ordered the drops from Harkers and shall buy the spray tomorrow.

 

The guy I got these from said they were clean, healthy pigeons! :-/  They have been free flying in a farmers barn so, in effect, are wild birds. No wonder I'm struggling to calm them down! :

[MsPigeon]

I agree Dooostalker, both Ivomectrin and the spray is a winner. I use Ivomec, 2 drops orally for each pigeon to rid them of worms and blood sucking lice and mites (which I have never actually seen) but it does not get rid of the long slender feather lice. These lice really are not that harmful as they feed on dead skin, dander, and bloom. They are not affected by the oral Ivomec because they don't bite or feed on the blood. Ivomectrin is available at farm stores and large animal supplies mail order catalogs on line. It is the injectable type for cattle that I use. It is expensive though, and not cost effective for a small flock. I have no problem with single handed spraying and I always use a mask in the loft these days anyway. I have heard that some people put the Ivomec in bath water but it is too expensive for me to use that way, I like to know that each bird gets it's proper dose.

Carol

[jimmy white]

i agree about the ivomec, and that these lice are not a serious problem ., unless covered in them , sometimes that can be a sick pigeon unable to prune itself, but worse by far are the red mite, which are one of the blood sucking mites, and an infestation of these will kill ybs in the nest, but the above product will sort that out along with loft cleaning with virkon s,,,,, soak a beer mat in virkon s once a week, and put under the nest pan, usually keeps all beesties away

[THE FIFER]

in the meantime put strong garlic water in their bath or in a spray and spray them lice will be gone in a tick, i use garlic water in my bath all the time keeps them clean, also good for spraying plants to rid of greenfly etc.

 

                               THE FIFER.

[snowy]

yes, a few of mine had lice & treated them all with a spray, but now i use strong garlic water for them to bath in once a week & no more lice! great tip that was off bruno & fifer

[Guest]

i was told many years ago by a prominent fancier never to use louse spray on the birds i was racing because when a bird is preening its feathers it can ingest ingredients from the spray which are likely to knock the bird off form.

nowdays i use the product previously mentioned by doostalker which is van vermin drops from van hee.

a few drops on each birds perch & a few about the floor area i!ve found most effective & it saves you catching and handling each bird. billy

[Guest]

Have I missed a post? The drops I'm sure Shadow recommended are Harker's Feather Drops, 'an essential oils' preparation, and not Ivomec.

 

On the Feather Drops, I think it is a really brilliant idea and much better than a spray. Its simple too - one person can do it and over in seconds. And tiny 50ml bottle lasts all season (that's repeat treatment of around 40 pigeons Jan / Sep with a few drops still there).

 

One thing though Peckedhen, you'll find it pretty hard to keep white birds free of lice. I took Fifer's advice and also put garlic in the bath water, and it is doing the trick.

 

I'd like to come back on Ivermectin, (once I discover where I put my info) but in the meantime does anyone know what 'the essential oils' in Harker's Feather Drops are?

[jimmy white]

as a young lad, i remember the older fanciers at the time, telling me to put salt in their bath to cure lice, so the first moot i went to i asked this question,,,,what does salt in the bath water do to lice?    the answer i got was,,it makes them thirsty.    so i quietly dissapeared to the toilet for half an hour, talk about a red face

[Guest]

Not so silly, the common table salt in the bath idea, Jimmy.  

 

The threads on baths set me thinking about how I used to have one of those old ceramic kitchen sinks 'buried' in the back garden way back in the 60's. On a Sunday used to fill it 3/4" deep with cold water (half and half in winter) and pour in common salt by the hand full.

 

Had been doing the same here until recently - water, drop of washing up liquid, and salt. Stopped to try out other recommended stuff.

 

No garlic bulb from supermarket on Saturday (divorce papers pending   ) so searching around for something for the bath on Sunday and asked myself why I had been putting salt in it all this time?

 

Salt water is 'a weak saline solution' a fancy name for something that has been used for centuries to clean and disinifect EXTERNALLY simple things like small cuts and scrapes, and the skin around them. In other words an antimicrobial.

 

Spit in the guy's eye the next time you see him, Jimmy!   ;D   ;D   ;D  

[Guest]

IVOMEC

 

Promised to come back on Ivomec / Ivomectrin.  

 

Posted elsewhere that the company that produce Ivomec products do so for CATTLE only - they don't do anything for poultry, for pigeons or for any other bird species.

 

And to highlight MsPigeon's point that she only gives her birds the correct dose - how can you possibly give any animal or bird the correct dose of any manufactured product NOT made specifically for that type of creature?

 

Ivomec 'pour on' and 'injectable' products can be see at :

 

http://ivomec.uk.merial.com/products/dairy/dairy.asp

 

[carl]

I use the feather drops from harkers you just put  two drops between the shoulder blades of the pigeon. Job done a lot easeir than spraying and you can do it single handed and you are not breathing any of the spray in

 

fly hard fly fair.

 

 

Shadow i have the drops from harkers also and found them no use at all.I done my birds with the drops and checked them a few days later and the birds still had lice.I done as it said 2 drops between the shoulders no good.

 

[frank-123]

i use van vermix never see lice drop on the perch about £9 a bottle last ages

 

[Guest]

With respect, Carl, the Feather Drop instructions do say that you may need to repeat the treatment in a couple of days' time.

 

THEORY ZONE: I don't know anything about the louse life cycle.

 

What I reckon you're seeing is the second generation Carl. No matter what you use, it may only take out the current generation of adults. If there are eggs still there (laid previously along the vane) these may hatch out after the treatment and 'reinfest' the bird making you think that the original treatment didn't work.  

 

I'd like some information though on what these 'essential oils' are. Feather drops have the same smell as the Pronofit Smoke Bomb, so it appears to be a gas action - what gas do these oils give off?

 

I've also been told of another gas-action 'drop' that can kill days-old youngsters in the nest.

[Guest beautyhomer]

bruno,

 

why are white pigeons more dificult to keep clear of lice???????

 

Andrew

[Guest]

At first I thought it was because its so easy to see lice on white feathers, Beautyhomer, and less easy with the darker birds. I'd noticed that one application (spray,drop) was usually enough for a dark or a dark chequer because the lice were usually 'gone' at next day's check. Pied's, grizzles and near-whites usually needed another doing...and another...and another.

 

But during reading Wim Peters Fit to Win (1) I thought I came across something somewhere that said "lice prefer blondes"! Couldn't quite follow any reasoning behind that one, and none was given.

 

Since adopting Fifer's tip of adding garlic to the bath water three weeks ago, I have to say they're all now free of lice...and stay that way.

[Guest]

there is a product u can get that turns the water purple when you put a pinch in and this clears the lice but gotta be ivormec for me.

[snowy]

I remember my uncle using something in a bucket & dipping all the birds in? i think that was for lice

[jimmy white]

im a wee bit confused at brunos post it seems a wee bit contradictive,  that on post 6   on electrolytes you say NO ADDITIONAL SALT VIA DRINKINK WATER AND AND  DEFINATELY NO ADDITIONAL SALT then you say in one of your last posts on this subject, that you used to put handfulls of salt in the bath, and that salt in water is a week saline solution used   externally, but surely your birds will drink the bath water, and if you gave them a bath every sunday, they would drink saline every sunday,,[ salt]