What bug is this?

[mrdlg2u]

There are lots of them in the bedding...

 

[chickengeorgeto]

The photo quality is poor but it looks a lot like a darkling beetle. Darkling beetles living in chicken litter pick up large amounts of internal parasite and disease organisms from eating chicken poop and waste feed. If your hens eat these volunteer darkling beetles you are recycling parasites and diseases back into your flock. I am sorry to break this to you but it is the truth.

 

[aart]

The photo quality is poor but it looks a lot like a darkling beetle. Darkling beetles living in chicken litter pick up large amounts of internal parasite and disease organisms from eating chicken poop and waste feed. If your hens eat these volunteer darkling beetles you are recycling parasites and diseases back into your flock. I am sorry to break this to you but it is the truth.

If disease is present already.

@mrdlg2u Do you feed mealworms to your birds?
They can occur naturally too.

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[mrdlg2u]

no disease that i can see...
after checking google more the little brownish/red beetles may be foreign grain beetles:

How to identify foreign grain beetles

Foreign grain beetle

• It is a small, flattened insect, about 1/12 inch long and reddish-brown in color.
• When viewed under magnification, it can be identified by two peg-like projections behind its head.
• These small beetles are strong fliers.

They are sometimes confused with fruit flies or gnats.

• Foreign grain beetles have a hard shell compared to flies and lack clear wings when at rest (they are folded under their wing covers).
• Sometimes people mistake foreign grain beetles for fleas or lice but neither of these biting insects have wings.
  • Lice are also flattened but are soft-bodied.
  • Fleas are flattened from side to side and are strong jumpers.

Behavior and habits

• Foreign grain beetles live in damp areas where fungus grows.
• They need a relative humidity of more than 65% to reproduce.
• They feed on a variety of stored products that are damp and moldy.
• Foreign grain beetles can complete their life cycle in about 30 days.
• They produce large numbers of offspring in a short amount of time.
• Foreign grain beetle numbers drop dramatically by October.
• Once the humidity falls below 60%, they die and disappear on their own.