Chicken butt...

[Jsaeler]

Hello
One of my hens (they are several years old) seems to have a poopy butt and bugs crawling all around her butt ... she isn't walking around like the others, laying down some when she usually doesn't, and seems to be uncomfortable by the way she does walk. I have not handled them from babies so they are always too afraid to let me too close to them but I was actually able to pick her up today .... how can I figure out what is wrong with her butt?
Thank you
julie

 

[MysteryChicken]

We'll need pictures, please?

 

[CoopBoots]

I'm so sorry. From the basic description it sounds like flystrike. Can you describe or post pictures of the bugs and your hen? I'd physically examine her rear end and the rest of her with that in mind. Gloves will probably make this easier to do.

 

[Eggcessive]

Are those maggots crawling around the vent or lice? Try to examine her vent area and have someone take a picture. If they are maggots, this needs to be treated now, or she will die. Bugs (lice and mites) are treated with permethrin spray or garden dust found at most feed stores. Maggots will be drowned with a soapy warm soak, but you will need to remove all of them, and repeat this in 12 hours. They will keep hatching out and can penetrate the skin through a wound.

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is a good article with pictures to tell if you are seeing maggots—flystrike:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/flystrike-in-backyard-chickens-causes/

Another article with pictures of lice and mites:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/