Best Mite& lice Spray

[Nkloft]

What kinda of Mite & lice spray do you guys think works the best for pigeons ? i used NATURAL Insect Spray from New England pigeon supplies but its kinda of expensive now $20. Looking for something that works good and cheaper ?
Thanks in advance

[spirit wings]

I have used 5% seven dusts to dust the birds..works fine.

[norwich]

If you like using sprays as I do you can try scalex it has worked good for me

[Pollo70]

Zappo works great and doesn't cost$ much.

[pigeon is fun]

I heard that malathion is good. I just dont know the ratio or how much to put in a gallon of water. I am planning to get 1 @home depot.

[AZCorbin]

Diatomacous Earth. Works inside the bird and out.

[Nkloft]

I actually perfer Spray.
I've noticed that the pet stores around me carry Scalex i think i'll try that and see what happens.
Thanks a lot for the suggestions guys

[pigeon is fun]

Please let me know how effective it is. thanks

[Checkmate]

What about small crawly things of any type? Is it safe to spray/bathe pigeons with this stuff? After all, they are forever cleaning feathers and the like. Please advise.

NOTE: I have just noticed (and have no idea where they came from) very small, amazing thin, about 1mm long brown/tan crawly things on the feathers of a few birds. I can find them on my white birds only; of the the dark birds are darn near impossible to inspect.

Help! I need to rid this things now. Help!

Cheers.
Michael.

[whytwings]

Originally Posted by Checkmate

What about small crawly things of any type? Is it safe to spray/bathe pigeons with this stuff? After all, they are forever cleaning feathers and the like. Please advise.

NOTE: I have just noticed (and have no idea where they came from) very small, amazing thin, about 1mm long brown/tan crawly things on the feathers of a few birds. I can find them on my white birds only; of the the dark birds are darn near impossible to inspect.

Help! I need to rid this things now. Help!

Cheers.
Michael.

Sounds like a feather mite or lice , usually brought in by wild birds ............I would think any of the suggested sprays / powders will work . Read the instructions or phone ahead /ask the retailer any questions or concerns you have prior to purchasing .

Ultimately I think it depends on how many birds you have to treat ...for larger numbers of birds I prefer to use a water additive called S76....if I suspect red mite in summer I will catch and dunk every bird in a solution called Coopex .

[spirit wings]

Originally Posted by Checkmate

What about small crawly things of any type? Is it safe to spray/bathe pigeons with this stuff? After all, they are forever cleaning feathers and the like. Please advise.

NOTE: I have just noticed (and have no idea where they came from) very small, amazing thin, about 1mm long brown/tan crawly things on the feathers of a few birds. I can find them on my white birds only; of the the dark birds are darn near impossible to inspect.

Help! I need to rid this things now. Help!

Cheers.
Michael.

those are feather lice.. 5% seven dust works.. dust the bird but don't get it in their eyes or nose. do it again a week later. also let you're birds bath on a regular basis a few times a week is good.. put 20 mule team borax in the bath water which helps keep lice at bay. ( one tabls per gallon).

[Skyeking]

Originally Posted by pigeon is fun

I heard that malathion is good. I just dont know the ratio or how much to put in a gallon of water. I am planning to get 1 @home depot.

Do not use malathion that is a very dangerous pesticide and it will kill your birds, maybe not right away but in a few months. Our neighbor used it on his chickens and they all died within 3 months. There are so many more safe and nice pigeon friendly sprays out there you can use..

Originally Posted by AZCorbin

Diatomacous Earth. Works inside the bird and out.

DE (and I mean food grade DE) is definitely a safe alternative powder, but you also have to be careful of it getting airborne.

Originally Posted by Nkloft

I actually perfer Spray.
I've noticed that the pet stores around me carry Scalex i think i'll try that and see what happens.

That is a good choice, I have even used the spray for parakeets and it smells nice! (For pigeon flies you have to get the spray or drops specifically designed to kill blood suckers , like Scalex drops or Moxidectin)

As always bathing is the best preventative and also is important for laying hens as well as when they are sitting on eggs, and keep the eggs from being too dry.

[Checkmate]

Fantastic advice.

Thank you.

Quick question ... how do they infect a flock? This is the first time I have seen them. My flock is about two years old. Bad feed? Bad straw/hay? Bad what? Is there anything I can do as a form of corrective action to ensure their not returning? How do birds in the wild deal with these things? And, are these things dangerous to people?

Ok, a couple more questions than just the one ... :-)

Cheers.
Michael.

[spirit wings]

Originally Posted by Checkmate

Fantastic advice.

Thank you.

Quick question ... how do they infect a flock? This is the first time I have seen them. My flock is about two years old. Bad feed? Bad straw/hay? Bad what? Is there anything I can do as a form of corrective action to ensure their not returning? How do birds in the wild deal with these things? And, are these things dangerous to people?

Ok, a couple more questions than just the one ... :-)

Cheers.
Michael.

Im not sure how they get them..but they probably come from wild birds.. these live on the feathers and are no problem for humans and they are easy to get rid of. my bird have never had them..but new birds I have got did so I use the seven dust.. I let my birds bath allot though.

[Msfreebird]

Originally Posted by spirit wings

those are feather lice.. 5% seven dust works.. dust the bird but don't get it in their eyes or nose. do it again a week later. also let you're birds bath on a regular basis a few times a week is good.. put 20 mule team borax in the bath water which helps keep lice at bay. ( one tabls per gallon).

Does this bother them if the drink the bath water.......alot of mine will get a drink, then jump in for their bath

Originally Posted by spirit wings

Im not sure how they get them..but they probably come from wild birds.. these live on the feathers and are no problem for humans and they are easy to get rid of. my bird have never had them..but new birds I have got did so I use the seven dust.. I let my birds bath allot though.

I don't know how they get it either, BUT...I'm battling mites right now! Had a couple birds with runny eyes and very swollen eye lids (one eye only). No other symptoms other than rubbing the eye. So I assumed I was dealing with 'one-eyed cold' or THIS- http://www.chevita.com/en/pigeons/tr...aemophilus.php . (you know what they say about 'assuming' )
So I got tetracycline and tylan and it was getting up to 30 days of treatment with no improvement. Was also using colloidal silver. I sent out an 'eye culture and sensitivity' on the worse bird- Came back E-COLI infection from scratching the eye lid! AND the ONLY drug it was resistant to was TETRACYCLINE. Then I noticed some head scratching and loss of head and neck feathers on a couple other birds. Inspected birds AGAIN and couldn't find anything on them (they are all dark birds that seem to be infected) ....then I happen to notice a white bird watching me. When I looked back at him I happen to see a tiny red round bug on his chest, run into his feathers! I had just cleaned and dusted the loft with diatomatious earth and sevin5 dust. Soooo, I went to the pet store and bought out all their lice/mite spray- pyrethrin (they only had 4), and had a small amount of ivermectin left over. They got ivermectin in their bath water, sprayed the other birds, and the birds with infected eyelids are on Baytril now. What a month!!! I was panicking, thinking I had some infectious disease!........See what happens when one 'assumes'