OOODLES OF LITTLE BLACK BUGS IN POOP!!! SICK HEN! COULD THIS BE IT??? URGENT!!!

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You know, when you look retrospectively, it could be anything. There was the morning i gave them brown bread with butter on it- ok, bread can cause fungal overgrowth. Or this winter I gave them lots of dried mealworms. Too much protein? Too many treats? Impaction somewhere in the digestive tract? Then again, they bed on straw. Maybe she ate straw. She loves drinking dirty water, could have been that. Sometimes they poop in the water! Coulda drank that! Mice sometimes jump up onto their feeder and I find their droppings in there- could she have ate them and become ill? Or was it a progressive thing, she's always been a little on the weak side, has survived a hawk attack and a fainting spell in the summertime. So I really don't know. The speculation is driving me mad, and her parasite test doesn't come back till MONDAY by then she will probably be frickin dead. Oh man. I am so irritated with the vet. This was the only vet near me who would take a chicken, and it was a 45 minute drive! And today I phoned with follow up questions but after being promised a call back by a vet, I was informed that she actually didn't feel comfortable talking to me about chickens after all, so forget it. I was so upset.

My hen seems agitated and weird tonight, standing up and looking around and twitching some. That's new, she's just been laying still for days. And then a buttload of bugs coming pouring out? My boyfriend thinks it might be good, like whatever it is it's coming out, but I dunno...how could antibiotics and antifungals get rid of gross icky bugs?
 
Also, I found something online saying that mites do indeed live in internal organs of poultry, but no medications suggested! Just external mite meds!

The DE seems like it could be ineffective internally because it gets wet. What do you think?
 
Mites are external parasites, not internal parasites. They prefer to feed around warm/moist areas of the chickens body...the vent area. Mites suck blood and cause anemia, then death. Mites cause the chickens immune system to weaken, opening the door for other types of diseases to invade the chickens system. Since you are seeing mites in the feces, that tells me that the rear end of your chicken is severely infested with mites. I highly recommend that you dust your chicken liberally with sevin dust in this situation, not with DE. DE would take too much time to do any good against an infestation of bloodsucking mites. Once you dust your chicken, redust her again in 7-10 days to kill nits hatched from eggs missed by the initial dusting. You will also need to dust her sleeping area and nests, repeat again in 7-10 days. Avoid getting the dust in the eyes and nostrils. Sevin dust can be purchased at any home improvement store and is much cheaper and more effective than DE.
 
dawg53 said:
Mites are external parasites, not internal parasites. They prefer to feed around warm/moist areas of the chickens body...the vent area. Mites suck blood and cause anemia, then death. Mites cause the chickens immune system to weaken, opening the door for other types of diseases to invade the chickens system. Since you are seeing mites in the feces, that tells me that the rear end of your chicken is severely infested with mites. I highly recommend that you dust your chicken liberally with sevin dust in this situation, not with DE. DE would take too much time to do any good against an infestation of bloodsucking mites. Once you dust your chicken, redust her again in 7-10 days to kill nits hatched from eggs missed by the initial dusting. You will also need to dust her sleeping area and nests, repeat again in 7-10 days. Avoid getting the dust in the eyes and nostrils. Sevin dust can be purchased at any home improvement store and is much cheaper and more effective than DE.
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Dawg53 is absolutely correct- I know from personal painful experience as I have dealt with mites extensively. Take a bath, not a shower to rid yourself of mites that have crawled onto you. Actually take a shower and then a bath. They will float up dead- you have to lie down in the tub and soak yourself- even your hair- I like Epsom Salts in the bath to soothe my bites. Then wash your sheets immediately if they were in the bed. Vacuum. They will die in 3 weeks with no blood meal from poultry if it is the Northern Fowl Mite. So if you keep collecting them in your home without vacuuming and washing sheets you will itch like crazy for weeks. Also wash your clothes after caring for the chickens immediately or keep them in the garage until your infestation is gone. They DO bite humans but are not able to reproduce on human blood. Period. I read this from a university extension article entomologist- despite popular websites I read that promote fear about the mites living off humans (even the red mite who lives 9 months with no poultry meal cannot survive off humans).
Toss all shavings in coop (even in nest boxes or they will not go away), repeating this at 7-10 days as you dust the chickens again. Spray your coop too with permethrin spray or some other poultry insecticide if you don't use the dust- dust will work great too. Dust the new shavings that you put in there.
 
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I put dust in a tied-off sock. Put chicken on back on ground, holding onto legs. Dust under wings and vent area (and belly). Turn chicken over and dust back, neck and try to rub dust into feathers. Next chicken. Don't dust the face.

Make sure to especially get around the vent area.

The Northern Fowl Mite runs very fast and just runs right up your arms as you gather eggs - or up your legs as you walk through the coop. Then you can't find it when you itch and check your arm.



Sour crop thread that was interesting:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/630307/sour-crop-cured-with-monistat

Since you have been prescribed an antifungal by a vet DON'T give additional meds without talking with your vet as it might be too much for your chicken.
 
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