What Is In My Hens Droppings?

Hi there,
I really hope someone can help me.
I'm fairly new to raising hens for eggs. Just recently I noticed these white things in/on my hens droppings that are in their coop.
Outside their droppings look fine.
Are they maggots, internal or external parasites? They are all over their coop droppings.

The hens seem healthy. They very recently began laying less. Sometimes they have watery droppings. I'm thinking about worming them.

Do they move? What are you feeding them? It could possibly be seeds from the feed.

I don't see the things moving. They're very small, but everywhere on their coop droppings. They're the size of sand. Their food doesn't seem to have any seeds that look like that, but they are eating a whole grain mix, right now.

My gut feeling is that it is lice that are being preened off whilst roosting. I would certainly check them for lice. If you google "images of poultry lice" you should get some photos which show you what to look for. Check especially around the vent area and under their wings. If they have a bad lice infestation you will see clusters of grey eggs attached to the base of the feather shafts.

Do your chickens have access to somewhere that they can dust bath.... this is how they naturally keep lice numbers down so maybe look at creating a dust bath if they don't have a suitable area in their run.. If they have a bad infestation you will need to treat them for it though which usually involves dusting them with a permethrin based powder.

Of course I could be wrong and it's something else altogether, but definitely check them for lice anyway and create a dust bath area if they don't have one.

I would get some safe guard liquid wormer for GOATS and give all birds 5cc every other day for 5 days and then wait 10 days after the last dose to eat the eggs. Discard all eggs laid during that time. Hope this helps.

That is not the proper dose for Safeguard. It also should not be given every other day.

casportpony is who can give you the proper dosage and the proper time frame.

rebrascora said:

My gut feeling is that it is lice that are being preened off whilst roosting. I would certainly check them for lice. If you google "images of poultry lice" you should get some photos which show you what to look for. Check especially around the vent area and under their wings. If they have a bad lice infestation you will see clusters of grey eggs attached to the base of the feather shafts.

Do your chickens have access to somewhere that they can dust bath.... this is how they naturally keep lice numbers down so maybe look at creating a dust bath if they don't have a suitable area in their run.. If they have a bad infestation you will need to treat them for it though which usually involves dusting them with a permethrin based powder.

Of course I could be wrong and it's something else altogether, but definitely check them for lice anyway and create a dust bath area if they don't have one.

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Tomorrow I'll inspect them for lice. Thank you so much for the info. When it's dry they are able to dust bath, but it's been so wet that they are unable to. I feel like an idiot for not creating a dust bath area for them during these wet months. Thanks again.

Ellethwyn said:

Hi there, I really hope someone can help me. I'm fairly new to raising hens for eggs. Just recently I noticed these white things in/on my hens droppings that are in their coop. Outside their droppings look fine. Are they maggots, internal or external parasites? They are all over their coop droppings. The hens seem healthy. They very recently began laying less. Sometimes they have watery droppings. I'm thinking about worming them.

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Welcome to BYC! Very interesting pictures, looks sort of like very small tapeworm segments or some type of larvae. Can you take a fresh sample to a vet? -Kathy

karstenwhyte said:

I would get some safe guard liquid wormer for GOATS and give all birds 5cc every other day for 5 days and then wait 10 days after the last dose to eat the eggs. Discard all eggs laid during that time. Hope this helps.

Click to expand...

That's a dose I haven't heard of before. Where did you get that info from, I'd love to know.

-Kathy

Thanks, Kathy!

Right when i saw these things, i thought... tapeworms! Ugh. These little white things are all over their coop, I first thought it was on just their droppings but it's all over the straw, too. It looks like sand sprinkled all over. So, hopefully it's not tapeworms. They do look a lot like some kind of larvae. I'm hoping it's some kind non parasitic insect that took up residence in their coop. I'm going to check them for mites and clean out their coop and add a dust bath of wood ash to their run today. I will put aside a sample to take to a vet. I don't have a vet as of right now, but may look into it. I wish worming wasn't so complicated ( i wish their was an all-in-one dewormer).

My hens are one year old and I've had them for 8 months. They've been quite healthy since the day i bought them. I've never treated them for worms and haven't noticed any lice or mites (yet). I spent all night researching treatments for internal and external parasites.