I have just been out to give my chooks some cool fresh water as it's going to be a hot day today...We have had a couple of hot days and so I thought when one of my chooks lost a few feathers on her chest that maybe she wasn't coping with the heat so well...So anyways I have been out to give them fresh water and noticed once I got out of the coup that there were little bug like things on me...really really tiny ones...I could feel them on my skin and they appear to have little white spot on them...Does this mean my chooks have mites? or could they be spirders breeding in the coup? and is this the likely reason why one of my chooks has lost feathers? Any help would be great Thanks Leonie
tiny little bugs usually mean your chickens have mites you can check them at night with a flashlight (chickens are more docile, mites are more active) lots of good sites about mites and lice etc. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=607011 https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=606236 http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html
Had to laugh at the title. First thought was, GET THE COOKS AWAY FROM THE FOOD! Sorry, couldn't resist. What you are describing with a "white spot", almost sounds to me like seed ticks. With a lot of warm weather, it's possible some new ones have hatched out.
You're going to have to pick your birds up and visually inspect them for lice/mites. Especially check the vent area and base of tail feathers. Here's a link for ID purposes: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ig140
