# Hog lice - natural treatment?



## FarmerKat (Jul 3, 2014)

I figured out that the bugs on my piglets are hog lice, not ticks as I originally thought. I have been searching on how to deal with them and it seems that quite a few people use food grade DE with success. I would like to try that before resorting to a chemical treatment. But I am unsure how to apply it. 

Do you put it on the pig? Do you spread it in the area where they spend most time? Our pigs are on a pasture and sleep in a 3 sided pen (dirt floor) with straw. I have read some posts that suggested spreading the DE in the pen but I wonder if that applies to pens that have a floor. I can hardly treat the whole pasture with DE. 

If there are other things I could do, please let me know as well. The lice are not horrible but I do not want to let them get out of control.

Also, will the lice get on chickens? I have free range chickens in the same area - would they also need to be treated? I have not seen anything on them but I have not looked that close either.

Thanks.


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

I've heard many people suggest DE. I hear oil works very well - 2nd hand reports though since we've never had lice. Probably by smothering them. I've heard of some people using automobile motor oil but I wouldn't try that due to the additives getting absorbed into the pigs's skin.

-Walter


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## FreedomFeathers (Aug 25, 2014)

Now I want to check mine for them... I use frontline to keep creepy crawlers off my chickens, but they aren't for eating... And it certainly isn't natural- haha. I'll be looking at the replies so I know what to do when/if I get them on mine...


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## gerold (Jul 18, 2011)

I have never had lice but if i did i would treat it with chemicals as soon as possible before they spread all over your farm. 

I had flies bad in my pens the first year i had hogs. I spray with chemicals twice and haven't had any problem since. 

Soil and air and other things around the farm will have more harmful chemicals then spraying once or twice for lice.


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## 3acres (Feb 6, 2013)

This is just me...

I've found lice on the butcher barrows I've bought and I believe my boar too when I got him as a tiny little thing. Baby oil smothered all over them got rid of the lice fast, never to return. One barrow had it bad bad! My cases were shut down still in the new arrival pen. 

I use hay for bedding instead of straw for everything. I've heard nasty critters live in the hollow stems of straw and such, so hay is better to keep them away.

When I was researching pig lice back when I had it that first time, I read a few times that pig lice doesn't go to other animals.


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## gerold (Jul 18, 2011)

When on the farm as a kid we had lice on the Sows. My Father apply some kind of used oil on their backs. It did get rid of the lice. I wouldn't use old used oil but i think that is what he used.


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## danniulrich05 (Mar 24, 2014)

We were given a pot belly earlier in the summer and he introduced us to hog lice. Never had them before. I thought they were ticks too. DE works wonders on crawling bugs. I put it on about once a week. Just a small handful on the back of the neck and kind of rub it around the ears and down the back. That coupled with the regular pasture moves got rid of them completely after a month or so. The DE only kills the adults so you have to move to new ground and reapply each week. It does work well though, I haven't seen a louse since July.


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## buckshot32000 (Jun 20, 2013)

You can use motor oil but it has to be used motor oil


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## FarmerKat (Jul 3, 2014)

Yeah, I do not like the idea of used motor oil - everything absorbs through the skin. Plus, it seems that they would be very icky after.



danniulrich05 said:


> We were given a pot belly earlier in the summer and he introduced us to hog lice. Never had them before. I thought they were ticks too. DE works wonders on crawling bugs. I put it on about once a week. Just a small handful on the back of the neck and kind of rub it around the ears and down the back. That coupled with the regular pasture moves got rid of them completely after a month or so. The DE only kills the adults so you have to move to new ground and reapply each week. It does work well though, I haven't seen a louse since July.


Thanks Danni, I will try that first. If DE does not work, we will take to the next step. 

And 3acres, thank you for the tip about the straw. We are getting some hay soon so I will use that for bedding as well.


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## Philosaw (Mar 3, 2014)

We've seen Lice fairly regularly over the years and have used both oil and DE. I now use DE exclusively because it's clean and easy. The pigs like getting a good rub down with it. I spread it over their backs and around their neck and jowels. This has never failed to get rid of them in about 3 weeks.


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## emilbanks (Jul 14, 2011)

Dust them and their bedding area with seven dust same stuff they apply to garden plants the dust will kill the bugs lice critters ect.


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## FarmerKat (Jul 3, 2014)

daniulrich05 and Philosaw,
How soon after applying the DE do you see an improvement?

I put DE on them yesterday and also dusted their sleeping area with it (while they were out on pasture). 

Both piglets have spots on the inside of their legs where a bunch of the lice have attached to them. I did not see any change since we put on the DE in those particular spots so I gooped vasoline over the lice. I then wiped it with my fingers - it clearly stopped the lice from sucking and I was able to remove bunch of lice just by wiping the vasoline off. Hopefully that got the girls some relief. I did not have any synthetic oil at home (which I think the baby oil and motor oil recommendations boil down to - a synthetic oil) and that is why I tried the vasoline. 

I think I see where the eggs are attached to their hair so I am hoping we will see a decrease in those as the eggs develop and hopefully the DE gets newly hatched ones before they lay more eggs.

The good thing is that the piglets do not seem bothered by the lice right now and I have not noticed excessive scratching.


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## Muleman (Nov 8, 2013)

I bought 2 over in Oklahoma a year or so ago, both covered in lice. I intended to buy more but they were in such bad shape I only took two. Looked like their skin was moving they had them so bad. I powdered them with 7 dust before leaving Oklahoma then I quarantined them to the trailer once home and sprayed them with Permethrin. I just could not take the chance of bringing lice into my other pigs. I kept them separate in the trailer for a month until I was sure they were gone, before introducing them to the rest. I know most people hate using chemicals, myself included, but if you can make sure you do not bring anything like this in to begin with, then you can stop with the chemicals and have a much better chance of staying bug free without the chemicals. Once an infestation happens it will be very difficult to eradicate later. I would take extra steps now, in the beginning.


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## FarmerKat (Jul 3, 2014)

Muleman said:


> I bought 2 over in Oklahoma a year or so ago, both covered in lice. I intended to buy more but they were in such bad shape I only took two. Looked like their skin was moving they had them so bad. I powdered them with 7 dust before leaving Oklahoma then I quarantined them to the trailer once home and sprayed them with Permethrin. I just could not take the chance of bringing lice into my other pigs. I kept them separate in the trailer for a month until I was sure they were gone, before introducing them to the rest. I know most people hate using chemicals, myself included, but if you can make sure you do not bring anything like this in to begin with, then you can stop with the chemicals and have a much better chance of staying bug free without the chemicals. Once an infestation happens it will be very difficult to eradicate later. I would take extra steps now, in the beginning.


Oh you know I will be looking for lice next time! Live and learn. These are our first pigs and there have not been any animals on our land in decades - so you know they came with the piglets. I was busy looking at the farm, their behavior, pig pens, pig pasture, etc. They came from a really nice place and all of their animals (not just pigs) looked well. I did not know about hog lice until I picked one up and thought they were ticks. We want to get a young boar but he is not coming until we get rid of these nasty bugs. 

But with that said, the DE is working. I picked a couple off one of the girls this morning and it was dead! Hooray! :banana: 

I am not entirely opposed to using chemicals or medications (in general, not just for animals) but I think of them as a last resort. However, when you are new to something, it is sometimes hard to know when the time has come to step it up to a more serious treatment. So I was really happy to see dead lice this morning. And I am grateful for everyone here who is willing to share their knowledge.


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## FarmerKat (Jul 3, 2014)

Just wanted to post an update ... this morning I searched and searched but could not find a single louse on one of the piglets. After a detailed search, I found 2 on the other piglet. So YEAH!!!!! our war on lice is going well. I can see some nits on the hair so I know we will have a second wave of the lice but they are going to be waking up to some DE. 

Both girls are really spunky today but rolled over so that I could check their bellies


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## Pig in a poke (Mar 27, 2013)

I am always puzzled when I read that people can see the actual lice or describe them as swarming/crawling.

Last spring, I found the nits on the pigs, but never saw a single louse. Not one. The nits looked like bot fly eggs, if anyone else is familiar with those, but it was not the right season, and I have never read anything about them depositing eggs on pigs. Could these have been something other than hog lice nits? (Long gone now, but still curious.)


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## Muleman (Nov 8, 2013)

PiP, Honestly the pigs I got in Oklahoma had them so bad, when I was standing on one side of the fence you could look at the pigs on the other side of the fence and see them moving. I am not exaggerating when I say that. My mother noticed them first, as I was busy talking to the owner, but once I looked, they were plain as day. Hog lice are quite large.


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## FarmerKat (Jul 3, 2014)

Our piglets did not have them as bad as Muleman describes, but we would see 1 or 2 crawl on their backs. A first I thought they were ticks. Upon closer examination, I found spots on the inside of the legs where a bunch of lice were attached and I could see more crawling in those areas. If your pigs had lice, you would have seen them.


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