Infected Eye and possible Lice?

[LilMissChickeneer]

Hello there! Looking for advice- I noticed yesterday my Legbar hen had an eye that was shut. I brought her in to clean it and apply treatment. It appears to be an injury because I noticed a small tinge of blood as I cleaned the area. As I was cleaning the area and right after I applied an antibiotic ointment to the eye, she opened it and I noticed a *tiny* white insect crawling away from here eye on her face. I tried to squish it but it was so small my finger couldn’t make contact. I checked her thoroughly for any signs of more of them (or anything else) and could not find ANYTHING else anywhere including her vent area, head, neck, under wings, etc. I also checked other flock members and do not see any sign of mites, lice, etc on them. What would you do? What could that have been on her? Are certain bugs attracted to injured areas on chickens? Also- any advice for her eye treatment is appreciated. I’ve cleaned it gently twice and applied an antibiotic drop to it as well as Neosporin.

 

[casportpony]

The bugs are lice. To treat lice, you need to get some permethrin dust or spray and apply it to her and her coop.

Can you post a picture of the eye?

 

[LilMissChickeneer]

Yes here are pics of her eye before treatment and once it opens after cleaning and adding tobramycin drops and Neosporin.

 

[LilMissChickeneer]

Eye is looking much better today, no longer crusted shut. I mixed up some Spinosad according to the same dilution that has been recommended on this forum (that is the equivilent of treating with the pricey Elector PSP) and treated the coup cracks and crevices as well as each bird's vent area. I did not find any lice on any of the birds but I figure it can't hurt to treat them. I did find some red mites crawling inside the run so hopefully I killed 2 mites with 1 stone. Thanks for the advice!