Tan bugs above vent

[jilliandbk]

We have only had chickens for a couple of months now but are having some tough luck. We had to kill one last week because she had a prolapsed vent that was not healing and she was miserable. The vet said the kindest thing to do would be to put her down. She was too young to lay eggs so we don't know what caused it - digestion maybe? So I checked the vents of all our other girls to make sure they were ok. I found a little patch of tiny tan bugs crawling above the vent of our Buff Orpington but her vent otherwise looked pretty healthy. The Delaware's vent looked a little swollen in comparison and smelled a bit. Could it be starting to prolapse? She is very close to laying - comb full and red and I even saw what I think was an egg squat the other day. Could not find anything in our book about tan bugs. Any ideas? We really do not want to loose any more chickens. We have not gotten any eggs yet and besides we are quite fond of them already.

 

[baldie]

Sounds like lice to me.

ETA:

I didnt see it was your first post until now.

 

[Elite Silkies]

You need to put some Poultry Dust on them. Then you also need to clean the coop and spread the dust around the coop and scrub the roost.

 

[jilliandbk]

how could they have gotten lice? we have only had them for a few months. I clean the droppings from under their roost every couple of weeks. Is this a cleanliness issue or just a fluke?

 

[jerseygirl1]

Where did you get them from?? Were they hatched by you?

 

[Lunachick]

The lice your seeing is the kind that doesn't suck blood. They eat the dander and stuff on the feather shafts. They also lay their eggs in clusters on the feather shaft closest to the chicken's skin. They get them from wild birds in your yard. 5% sevin dust combined with DE is what I use. You have to dust them every 7 or 8 days to kill the ones that hatch later. Good luck. I'm sorry about your other hen.