Anyone know what these are?

[VictoriaTemple]

These eggs are all over my chickens. The Jersey Giants are the hardest hit. I know it’s hard to see with the flash on, they are white. No sign of anything crawling, just eggs. Treated with permethrin concentrate bath, thought they were gone, but I must have missed someone, because Hero is covered with them. Have not seen anything hatch. Ideas?

 

[Rose Quartz]

I don't know, but now I'm all crawly looking up chicken parasites. Maybe northern fowl mites? I've never come across them myself though. Maybe take a look here at the pictures and decide if it looks similar. https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/

I can say that it's not poultry lice. I know what they look like.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

View attachment 2001262

These eggs are all over my chickens. The Jersey Giants are the hardest hit. I know it’s hard to see with the flash on, they are white. No sign of anything crawling, just eggs. Treated with permethrin concentrate bath, thought they were gone, but I must have missed someone, because Hero is covered with them. Have not seen anything hatch. Ideas?

Gross! They look like some kind of lice eggs.

 

[ThracianHorse]

Bird lice eggs. Time to treat with permetherin dust.

Wait. Looks like you already treated... wait a few days, retreat to get any hatched larvae, wait a few more days, retreat a third time. Ought to knock those little bloodsuckers out. Permetherin dust does not affect eggs, only live adults and larvae.

 

[VictoriaTemple]

I can’t use dust, I have respiratory problems. I mixed the liquid concentrate with water according to the directions and bathed each bird. I treated only once though, didn’t know it didn’t kill the eggs. Will have to treat again. What a hassle!

What confuses me is that there are only eggs visible, can’t find the crawlers at all. Unless those ARE the lice/mites, I’ve never seen them move at all. I think I remember seeing these on dead songbirds too. Scary. I thought I killed them off last year with Scalex pet bird spray (had brown lice AND straw lice at the same time, yuck!), but a few eggs must have escaped. Poor Hero, he’s such a conscientious preener, but he can’t get rid of them, he has them the worst. Lost a lot of weight over the summer when I didn’t know he had them. He gained it back quickly after the permethrin bath, but now he is recovering from a respiratory infection and I can see he is covered with eggs again.

I did just give them a new sand bath (and of course it rained the next day, so the sand is all wet!) Maybe when it dries I will put permethrin dust in that, and bathe Hero separately.

Ugh, Jesus help me, please!

 

[cmom]

If it's mites, some only come out and feed on the birds at night so you may not see them during the day. I would check the birds after they roost. I use a headlamp so I have both of my hands free. Try over the counter lice shampoo for people. If you want to bathe your birds, every over-the-counter (OTC) treatment for head lice contains either pyrethrins (Rid or Triple X) or permethrin (Nix). They are effective treatment. Both only kill live pests, not the pests eggs. You can also spray the birds with permethrin. If you do dust, wear a dust mask. I put the dust in the nest boxes. If it's cold out it may not be wise to spray the birds. Get under the wings and around the vent area good. It usually takes more than one treatment about a week apart because it does not kill the mite eggs. I sprayed inside of the coops, every crack and crevice, on and under the roosts, ceiling, walls, floors, anywhere the mites can hide. The bonus is there is no egg withdrawal period. Last year I had a severe infestation and thought the birds were molting but when they didn't seem to be getting their feathers back I investigated further and found they were covered with mites. ASAP I sprayed the inside of their coop thoroughly. I sprayed the birds and some gave baths to. It helped but I used flea shampoo so it didn't get rid of them all but helped. If I ever need to bathe them again I will use the OTC shampoos. I use a gallon sprayer I have several coops. Since recently I had a a couple of birds in a coop that had a few on them I'm again on my weekly spraying regimen and I will be sorting birds out to put in the breeding coops and pens and if there are any pests I don't want to introduce them from one coop to another. Good luck...

 

[VictoriaTemple]

@cmom, thanks, good luck to you too! Great info!

 

[cmom]

Wild birds and rodents, squirrels and such can introduce the pests into your flock. In my case I think it was the wild birds. I had some wild birds trying to build nests in one of the coops.

 

[ThracianHorse]

I can’t use dust, I have respiratory problems. I mixed the liquid concentrate with water according to the directions and bathed each bird. I treated only once though, didn’t know it didn’t kill the eggs. Will have to treat again. What a hassle!

What confuses me is that there are only eggs visible, can’t find the crawlers at all. Unless those ARE the lice/mites, I’ve never seen them move at all. I think I remember seeing these on dead songbirds too. Scary. I thought I killed them off last year with Scalex pet bird spray (had brown lice AND straw lice at the same time, yuck!), but a few eggs must have escaped. Poor Hero, he’s such a conscientious preener, but he can’t get rid of them, he has them the worst. Lost a lot of weight over the summer when I didn’t know he had them. He gained it back quickly after the permethrin bath, but now he is recovering from a respiratory infection and I can see he is covered with eggs again.

I did just give them a new sand bath (and of course it rained the next day, so the sand is all wet!) Maybe when it dries I will put permethrin dust in that, and bathe Hero separately.

Ugh, Jesus help me, please!

If you can't use the dust then retreat every 3-4 days with the stuff you used. What you are trying to do is kill the lice after they hatch, but before they become adults and lay more eggs. Retreating several times will knock out the infestation, hopefully.

 

[Henry&Friends]

I agree, that’s gotta be some kind of eggs. You can use a permethrin spray and spray down the coop & birds about every 4-5 days until the infestation is gone.


I am both thoroughly disgusted and intrigued...