Grey foamy balls at base of chicken tail feathers

[Clayre66]

We have recently noticed some grey balls growing at the base of our chickens’ tail feathers. They do not wash off/out like solids balls of poo do - they take a lot of pulling off.

We recently bathed our chicken and pulled off a lot of these balls, which on closer inspection are a bit like natural sponge in consistency, and seem to be made up of lots of little balls. We wonder if they are collections of some parasite’s eggs.

We cannot seem to find anything like it in pictures online, so don’t know where to start to treat it. And there are no vets around here that deal with chickens - which are considered ‘exotic birds’ apparently!

So we’d be very grateful for help to understand what it is and how to treat/eradicate it.

In case it’s relevant, we live in SE England. And the 2 affected chickens are a ?Bluebell and a Sussex.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Look like mite/lice eggs

 

[Eggcessive]

Lice eggs can appear at the base of feathers under the vent or on other parts of the body, and can be white to gray. A product with permethrin, dust or spray is good to treat at 10 day intervals at least twice to get rid of lice. The newly hatched ones can be treated within 10 days. In the UK, you may need to get something from your vet, since permethrin is not available there. Pyrethrums from plants can be used, and sulfur powder will also treat mites and lice if dusted on the chicken and to treat the facilities. All bedding needs to be removed and the coop treated while treating the chick. New bedding can then be replaced.

 

[NevadaEmma]

Did you find out what the masses were? I have the same thing on my hens, some worse than other. The one I checked today did not have any bugs that were in the area that I could see, just the masses attached to the feather shaft at the base.

 

[Julie stevens]

Lice eggs can appear at the base of feathers under the vent or on other parts of the body, and can be white to gray. A product with permethrin, dust or spray is good to treat at 10 day intervals at least twice to get rid of lice. The newly hatched ones can be treated within 10 days. In the UK, you may need to get something from your vet, since permethrin is not available there. Pyrethrums from plants can be used, and sulfur powder will also treat mites and lice if dusted on the chicken and to treat the facilities. All bedding needs to be removed and the coop treated while treating the chick. New bedding can then be replaced.

I’ve got one the same. A few weeks ago she seemed off colour so I gave her a magnesium bath. She was covered by n yellow mites. I’ve got rid of them but noticed today that
she had mucky tail feathers, thinking it was poop, she had another bath. On closer inspection I saw the were sponge like masses ( similar to a sugar puff) I’ve managed to remove 99% of them, sprayed her and powdered her bum with diaphanous earth. I cut off be open after and looked under a magnifying glass and they had nothing in them. Perhaps they were the hatching cases of the lice she had

 

[nuthatched]

I’ve got one the same. A few weeks ago she seemed off colour so I gave her a magnesium bath. She was covered by n yellow mites. I’ve got rid of them but noticed today that
she had mucky tail feathers, thinking it was poop, she had another bath. On closer inspection I saw the were sponge like masses ( similar to a sugar puff) I’ve managed to remove 99% of them, sprayed her and powdered her bum with diaphanous earth. I cut off be open after and looked under a magnifying glass and they had nothing in them. Perhaps they were the hatching cases of the lice she had

Diotomaetous Earth won't work for lice, you need to get permeate based border or spray and use that on everything .

 

[tlcmurphy]

We’ve used permethrin dusting powder for mites (haven’t had lice), DE is useless.

 

[NevadaEmma]

I’ve got one the same. A few weeks ago she seemed off colour so I gave her a magnesium bath. She was covered by n yellow mites. I’ve got rid of them but noticed today that
she had mucky tail feathers, thinking it was poop, she had another bath. On closer inspection I saw the were sponge like masses ( similar to a sugar puff) I’ve managed to remove 99% of them, sprayed her and powdered her bum with diaphanous earth. I cut off be open after and looked under a magnifying glass and they had nothing in them. Perhaps they were the hatching cases of the lice she had

Thanks for the reply. I used liquid Ivermectin on the chickens. 3 drops for small or bantam, 4 to 5 drops for the larger hens and about 6 to7 for the rooster. I took out all the bedding, washed the coop interior and exterior, sprinkled permethium powder lightly and replaced bedding with new hemp. I will recheck them in another week. So far the scratching has decreased significantly. The foamy balls are still at the base, but I do not see any mites.
If I get the energy I will dunk all of the chickens in soapy water before the next round.