How To Use Garden & Poultry Dust

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Raising BackYard Chickens
Predators and Pests

Treated with ProZap poultry dust......... few questions.

Thread starter rubyrogue
Start date May 23, 2010

I treated my hens for lice with poultry dust. I used Prozap brand .25% Permethrin. I totally cleaned out the coop and nests. sprinkled it all over along with DE put in new bedding and sprinkled some in their favorite dust bath areas. I also put some on top of the bedding in the nests where my broodies are sitting and dusted the hens behinds.
Questions:
I have been tossing the eggs because of the dust in the bedding. Do I need to continue doing this? For how long?
They pecked at and ate some of the dust in their dusting area, will it harm them?
I was going to put chicks under my broodies next week. will the dust harm the chicks?
How long until I see results? I picked up my broody later that day and no longer saw lice only the eggs on the feathers.
How long in-between treatments?
Do i need to totally replace the bedding with the next treatment or just dust the birds again?

Sorry so many questions, thank you for any help

C'mon guys, BYC'er needs help.

All I know is that with sevin dust, they've done tests and the contents of the eggs were contaminated with pesticide residue for a couple of months after it was used. Something like 58 days, I think. I mean the inside contents that you eat, not just the outside of the shell. When you apply pesticides to chickens, animals or people, it's absorbed into their bodies, as well as killing the pests that are living on the surface of their bodies.

I only use diatomaceous earth, as well as dust baths, to control external parasites. What I see in general, is that people that are worried about pesticide consumption don't use pesticides and people that don't think pesticides are a problem, use them and don't worry about the eggs being contaminated.

Google is often a very good place to look for MSDS, the Material Safety Data Sheets, and studies on the effects of pesticides, tests on residue in the animals (or eggs of the chickens) they were used on and recommended withdrawl times. It's always good to read your labels, although if you use a product that hasn't been approved for use on chickens, then you'll need to dig a little harder to find some information on it.

Thread starter
#5

I tried DE I have used it from the start. Its all over in their coop, run, roosts nests ect. It didn't work. I tried and tried before i resorted to a chemical.
I hate having to throw the eggs away as i am a single mom and I sell as many extra as I can for a little spending money. I am still throwing them away at this point until I can find some info on a withdrawal period.

i just had a mixed dusting of the nest boxes using that dust, lime and DE. and the nest box is good. i stuck eggs under the broodies... will the eggs still hatch?

i hadn't thought about this till someone mentioned it.

but i prefer an IPM strategy using the DE and the lice dust directly on the hen's vents.

Thread starter
#7

So I wrote the company and this is the email i got back:

There is no withdrawal time for the eggs. Wear gloves and rinse them well before handling.

-------------- Original message from **********@*******.net: --------------

> Subject: interview request
> Name: Lacie
> Email: *****************************
> Recipient: regulatory Message: Hello, I recently treated my hens with your garden and poultry dust to rid them of lice. I was wondering, since i dusted everything (nests, coop, run and birds), if there is a withdrawal time for the eggs? I have been searching all over the internet but either I\\'m not looking in the right place or am not using the correct search terms. I have been tossing the eggs as a precaution but
> being a single mom I would love to be able to eat them. Thank you

So eggs are porous, if i need to wear gloves and wash them well.............. think ill just wait a little longer and keep tossing them

Last edited: May 25, 2010

Today I treated 2 birds with it, they seem to be having some reaction to it. I dusted them up really good with .25 Garden & Poultry Dust, ProZap ... It does say to use ONE POUND per 100 birds, but how are you supposed to divide 16 ounces, into 100 units to get what they say?

I read that AFTER I used it, thinking it wouldn't be much differant than using Perma Guard DE (Food Grade), but my 2 show birds are showing reactions. My buff bantam cochin is sneezing and shaking, and my Ameraucana hen is looking super pale. I just gave her some sugar water and canned mixed vegetables, hoping some extra vitamins might help her get stronger.

Any input? I'm new here, and I did this because I seen little mites on them. I'm thinking I should of mixed it with the DE, I have one of those little dusters that look like a 4 inch accordian which I got from Perma-Guard, wish I diluted the pro zap, and hope my birds wont get poisoned.

Casey with 80-some chooks

I'm sorry about what's happening to your chickens. It does sound like they've been overdosed. You could try bathing the ones most effected and then drying them in the house, to get as much off them as possible. At least that way they won't absorb even more into their bodies. I don't know if wetting the dust will make the pesticide absorb into their skin even faster, though. I would be concerned about that. Other than that, all you can do is wait and let their bodies try to get through it the best they can. They may only get sick and then recover on their own, as their bodies purge the toxin out of their system.

You could try calling a vet, a poison control center for pets or the manufacturer. They may be able to give you an idea of what to do to help your chickens. Poisons are poisons. The same poisons that can kill insects, can kill chickens and people. You try to use enough to kill the parasite, but not enough to kill the host.

I hope your chickens recover.