# How would you treat lice on feral chickens?



## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

On feral free ranging chickens?

I have a lot of free ranging feral chickens, they just come in from the jungle. I can treat my girls (and guys) in the coops but the ferals just keep bringing it back. I'd like to figure out a way to treat them, I see those tufts of white egg sacs on their heads.

Any ideas? I do feed them, but not sure how I could incorporate anything into their feed.


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## Sfgwife (Feb 18, 2018)

I wonder if you could use a cattle fly guard/mineral feeder idea.... put food in a feeder in a big plastic bin so the bird has to go into the box and have the "brush" row low enough that it would brush their feathers. The fly giard has stuff in it that when a cow goes to get food or mineral it brushes the hair and embeds the stuff on the cow.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Maybe setup a no kill trap, unless there are a lot of them.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Havahart...MI5uXin4nU3QIVyI5-Ch2XjALlEAQYBCABEgLxTvD_BwE


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

toth boer goats said:


> Maybe setup a no kill trap, unless there are a lot of them.
> https://www.walmart.com/ip/Havahart...MI5uXin4nU3QIVyI5-Ch2XjALlEAQYBCABEgLxTvD_BwE


There is tons. I catch them on occasion for butchering, but too many to catch and treat every couple weeks. I wonder if there is some way to add ivermectin to food? I don't think any animal 
food comes with ivermectin in it?


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

How close can you get? 

I'm thinking you sit on the ground with a 10 ml syringe of ivermectin and put something REALLY tasty for them to eat around you in a circle. Then you kinda squirt gun them best you can as they get close enough.


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

In fact, a children's squirt gun may work better than a syringe - narrower stream = further distance!

I'm not sure how much ivermectin you would eat through in this endeavor though...


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I read put Garlic juice in their water. Helps to repel bugs. 

It is so hard to treat birds that you can't catch.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

They are roosting some place, find where they roost and treat them at night. We had basically wild chickens here lol and we got to the point there was like 5 roosters per hen and I would wait till they roosted to grab the roosters to take to the auction.
Another idea since you are feeding them is make a small cage and start feeding them in that cage. Once they get used to eating in there shut the door and have at them.
Apple cider vinegar is supposed to be pretty much every bug repellent also, you could put some in the water, assuming though that they can’t find water other places which I think your in Hawaii that not finding water might be a bit of a joke


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