Feather loss around necks of birds "HELP"

[yardbird88]

a few of my pullets are having feather loss around their necks and a lot of scratching around that area i started sevin dusting them and their area. I did notice small slender grayish bugs in their coop and one was on my foot but i cannot find any bug on the chickens themselves. They seem very fragile to were just touching them seems to kill them. My question is lice or chicken mites and how to get rid of them.

 

[ScienceChicken]

If you could take and post a picture of the bug that would help to identify it, but the description of "a small slender grayish bugs" sounds like a Silver Fish bug to me...

 

[yardbird88]

will try but i dusted the coop heavily do they cause feather loss

 

[yardbird88]

ok this the best pic i could get it is a very small bug

 

[ScienceChicken]

Well not a Silver Fish,I don't have a clue on what it is

Hopefully some who's know what it is will find this thread
The one thing I can tell you is the bug dose not look like not lice or chicken mites

 

[yardbird88]

yeah after i posted the pic i could actually see it better than with my naked eye and i compared the lice and mite pics and it didnt seem like it was those two. which had me worried about catching something they had.

 

[nubbin]

The bug in the picture is a Collembola which are also called springtails. They eat decomposing stuff and you find them in leaf litter. They are harmless and probably chowing on organic matter around the coop.

 

[yardbird88]

Thanks for the info, I figured the were harmless after I watched them fir awhile and they didn't match up to any mites or lice pics.

 

[LaylaFlora]

Are your chickens moulting? If you haven't already, check them at night. Bugs are typically more active when your chickens are resting.

 

[yardbird88]

They might of been or they were pecking at each other cause everything is ok now. I guess I was just being a mother hen, seems like they do better when I just leave them alone.