Ok first, I might have two problems here. At first, a few weeks ago I noticed a few very small black speck spots on my chicken combs. I didn't think much of it, they looked like little blood spots from pecking and I have a few hens that are not so nice. It wasn't on every bird, but maybe 15%.
Today, I noticed a few had heads that looked funny, and had a LOT of black specks round their faces and ears. Upon inspection, I noticed what appear to be small black bugs all over the underside of their beaks, necks and around their eyes. I couldn't easily pick them off, but on a few hens, there were tons of them. One the one I examined, I didn't see anything else on their bodies. The bugs looked to be attacked like ticks, but small like ants, smooth bodied like fleas. I can't find anything in researching about similar insects. They aren't lice, are much bigger than mites and from what I read I am not sure about fowl lice??? Any ideas? All in all it seems that I might have about 10% of flock that have these visibly around their heads, so I am guessing other have smaller infestations. I have about 40 chickens total.
Also, I have at least one hen that has larger black raised spots on her comb, she is very skiddish buttercup, so I couldn't catcher her during the day, I am now looking up black scab, too.
Today, I noticed a few had heads that looked funny, and had a LOT of black specks round their faces and ears. Upon inspection, I noticed what appear to be small black bugs all over the underside of their beaks, necks and around their eyes. I couldn't easily pick them off, but on a few hens, there were tons of them. One the one I examined, I didn't see anything else on their bodies. The bugs looked to be attacked like ticks, but small like ants, smooth bodied like fleas. I can't find anything in researching about similar insects. They aren't lice, are much bigger than mites and from what I read I am not sure about fowl lice??? Any ideas? All in all it seems that I might have about 10% of flock that have these visibly around their heads, so I am guessing other have smaller infestations. I have about 40 chickens total.
Also, I have at least one hen that has larger black raised spots on her comb, she is very skiddish buttercup, so I couldn't catcher her during the day, I am now looking up black scab, too.
