Odd bugs on hens - Could lead to death?

[Qalupalik]

Hi,

I'm new. I bought some hens from a guy, and I was a bit concerned right from the start. He just grabbed some hens, threw them into the cage in the truck and then started grabbing more chickens for another customer. Despite having a bad gut reaction, because of my personality and because it was my first time with chickens, I didn't say anything and we took the girls home.

Since they looked in pretty rough shape, I grabbed one to check for lice/mites, but couldn't find anything except this LARGE, probably 1 cm long yellowy bug, with a roundish shape, scampering across the first hen I picked up. I compared what I could remember with pictures of poultry lice, and it doesn't look the same. Poultry lice are much smaller, I think.

Now, the one I named "Sleepy", in my ignorance I thought her napping was cute, is dying. I've been extra concerned about her for the last few days, so I have been bringing her in the house and feeding her special foods alone and checking her over. Today, she seemed to be getting worse, but when she pooped, she actually pooped something, whereas before some poops were clear, so I thought maybe she was improving. When I went to "put my chickens to bed", I noticed she wasn't there. I panicked and ran outside, and she was lying on her side in the mud in the pouring rain, so I quickly scooped her up, brought her inside and gave her a warm bath. That was when I noticed the she too, had at least one of those bugs on her. She's so weak she can't open her eyes now, so we're just making her as comfortable as possible and hoping for the best.

Does anyone know what those yellowy bugs are? Could they be the reason why my hens are sick, and this one is dying? I've tried looking for answers in these forums and in general searches, and in books, but I can't seem to find anything that really fits.

Any help would be great.

 

[chickenoverlord]

Post a pic, i THINK I MIGHT know what it is.

 

[Qalupalik]

I wish I had a picture! They scamper so quickly and I don't have a camera that can take pictures that close up . If you tell me what you think it is, I can google an image and confirm it or not. Would that be a possibility?

 

[chickenoverlord]

Giveme a detailed description plz, it almost sounds like a internal fluke, but it's external... Describe it as best u can.

 

[Qalupalik]

Round, but like of like a crab, with legs out to the side, yellowy with perhaps a tinge of green, about 1 cm in length/diameter, though a little longer than wide. Move quickly, but not quickly enough that I couldn't see it. Kind of like a tick, but a little more like a spider? I'll see if I can find another one an make a more accurate description, or capture it and send a blurry photo.

 

[chickenoverlord]

Is it a bedbug? (I know they attack chickens) it sounds just like a larger species of louse, hold on let me look up some pics so ik now for sure.

 

[chickenoverlord]

Well, it sounds like its some kind of bedbug, best I can tell. Describe the condition of the chickened from this man. (feather condition, behavior towards humans and other poultry, appetite, roosting, etc.) also, how long have you had the chickens in question?

 

[chickenoverlord]

Well, it sounds like its some kind of bedbug, best I can tell. Describe the condition of the chickened from this man. (feather condition, behavior towards humans and other poultry, appetite, roosting, discharge, swelling, abnormal sounds, etc.) also, how long have you had the chickens in question, and how old are they?

 

[Qalupalik]

All of the brown ones we got (5) have never looked really healthy. The other 5 are different breeds, and they seem ok so far. The brown ones are missing feathers, but wasn't sure if they were going through a molt or not. Now it seems more than likely, not. The guy said they're all 7-9 months old, but he sold me 2 "araucanas" that aren't araucanas at all, so I'm not sure how much he actually knows about his own chickens. They have great appetites, and always run to me when they see me because they think they're getting more treats, though they were terrified of us when we first got them. They look healthier than when I got them (except Sleepy), but they still don't look very healthy.

We got them less than a month ago. Most of them had diarrhea when we first got them, but they all seem to be pooping fine now except for Sleepy. I had a clove of garlic in their water for the first week, and ACV since then. I feed them probiotic plain yogurt a few times a week. I haven't noticed any discharge, except Sleepy's watery feces. I haven't noticed any swelling, but I also don't know what to look for.

When checking her over again, looking for the bug in question, I did find a dead louse, so I clearly do have a lice problem as well. *sigh* I couldn't find the original bug, however. Are there some species of lice that get that big? I really hope it's not a bed bug, because I've been bringing her in the house.

 

[chickenoverlord]

I m not sure if any louse species get that big, but an infestation of louse Gould nor kill your chickens unless it's so sever they are completely bald. The person that sold them to you was a moron, never buy from him again (I'm sorry about poor sweet sleepy, I'll pray for her) the bugs you were describing sounded like freshly molted bedbug nymphs, but bedbugs usually don't live on the chicken unless they are feeding, at which point they drop off and hide. If its is in fact bedbugs, you will need to fumigate the entire coop (I reccomend removing the chickens, dusting the with seven dust, cleaning and bleaching the entire coop, and seven dusting the entire coop/run). Either way,you need to seven dust all of your chickens (Apply dust until entire chicken looks powdery) and clean and dust the coop, but do not inhale the dust or get it in their/your eyes. Wear gloves and long sleeves and pants, and wash the clothes immediately after use, and wash any skin/hair that came in contact with the dust. On sleepy, is their any nasal or eye discharge? How is her breathing, and what color is her mucous? check and make sure they do not have scaly leg mites, and check for bumble foot.