NASTY!!! I think my 7 layer hens all have some type of bug's or WORMS?

k2chickens

Songster
10 Years
Joined
Apr 22, 2009
Messages
1,757
Reaction score
4
Points
171
Location
New Castle, Indiana
long story short i noticed one of my hens had a bad pasty butt "about the size of a golf ball" Turned her upside down to take a look at it and once it was removed by my clippers i almost cringed in disgust. She had these little bugs all over her butt below her vent. They were very fast and they were a creamy yellowish color. They looked way too big to be mites. I check some fresh poop they dropped in the yard and i saw no worms or these "things" crawling around in their poo. The weird thing is, they had built these little hard white nest's around the quill or "pin" part of the feather that comes out from the skin. The best way to describe it would be a sugar cube but in the shape of a teardrop fastened around the pin of the feather just above the skin. They look to be crawling in about out of these weird nest things as well. They are only crawling around on the skin too when they are out and about, they don't seem to be on the feather's themselves.

What could these little things be??? Of course the other 6 girls had them too, just the one girl had them worse than the others. I keep them clean, change their bedding, clean their waters.....i thought i took very good care of my birds....so needles to say im very embarrassed. I feel so bad for them because i know they must feel un-comfortable. They hen's are just over a year old and i have yet to worm them at all. I don't know the first thing about worming chickens so i would have no idea what i need to buy or go about the whole process. The first thing that came to mind was getting a warm soapy bucket of water and putting them in it to where the water is only up to their vent's and washing/gently scrubbing where the bug's are. They only seem to be below the vent area, i checked their entire bodies and found no other area with the infestation. Other than that i got nothing. I hope you guy's can help me out with finding out what they are and helping me out with their situation. Thanks for your time in reading my post.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Do you think it could be maggots from flies laying eggs around her vent?
 
It sounds like Lice if it is attaching to the shaft. How big are they? I would seek out some DE and maybe some additional wormer to help clear up the situation. The soap can't hurt. Is there something specific that someone else knows of to help this poor chook owner?
Good luck.
 
Quote:
possibly, ive never seen this before so that's why i came here. But we are just coming into the spring, the fly population in the barn has been next to nothing.
 
I don't think that these would have anything to do with attaching anything to the feather shafts, but I know rabbits can get fly strike if they get pasty butt.
 
Quote:
thanks for your input. They are decently big, abut the size of a pin head...but i can see 20 to 30 on the skin at a time before they scatter
 
Dusting with Sevin seems to be what I have seen mentioned. I suggest using the search function, and having a look at what is suggested for both lice and mites. I think you will find a wealth of information. In the meantime, a warm bath can't hurt.
 
They are lice, and the "nests" around the feather quills are eggs. Dust with sevin and repeat as per directions to kill any emerging lice.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom