What is this?! [WARNING! GRAPHIC IMAGES!]

[Imp]

Looks like lice, but very large.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html

Imp-BTW I'm switching from eggs for breakfast to peanut butter. LOL!

 

[farrier!]

Did you "poke" at a few of them that were on the roosters? What do they feel like or look like inside?

 

[siroiszoo]

I would need a microscope to tell if the large ball was made up of smaller cojoined eggs. As I tried to scrape it off the quill, it came off in large segments as I tore it away from the quill, and the texture gave the impression of something like .... peeling an old dried kitchen sponge that has been used for weeks (you know, how they start off soft but tend to get harder each time they dry out?) The bumps are firm but not hard as a rock; they give a little to pressure but do not change shape at all.

but exactly same look & texture on inside as what you see on outside.

The size & variation in size is what stuns me. They are all pea sized - give or take. The roosters looked perfectly healthy, no feather loss, good weight, no problems with their poop, etc. Out of 3 roosters, one had it bad (the pictures are from that rooster). Another one of the same breed only had those balls on 5 or 6 feathers. The third rooster, a standard cochin/wyndotte with a little bantam thrown in, was clean.

The sick hen that I first noticed it on was a purebred standard white cochin hen.

 

[pips&peeps]

Lice eggs. I would remove those remaining feathers and get rid of them.

The flock needs to be treated for lice immediately.

 

[siroiszoo]

Quote:
Thanks for that! After butchering all day yesterday, it really didn't dawn on me that I might offend someone. As my husband says, "everything about a chicken is gross" LOL!

 

[Imp]

Quote:
Thanks for that! After butchering all day yesterday, it really didn't dawn on me that I might offend someone. As my husband says, "everything about a chicken is gross" LOL!

Your husband might have a point.

Actually it is great that you posted those pix. They do look a little different/bigger than the usual lice egg pix. And No, they weren't too graphic. If you want too graphic before breakfast check out one of the poo links.

Imp- still hasn't made it past coffee yet

Oh! and BTW Welcome siroiszoo to BYC

 

[Casey3043]

Perhaps you could take a couple feathers to your local ag college or failing that, a high school science lab where someone could look at them through a microscope. Even a vet might do it for you. Looks like you will need some major medication anyway!

Good luck with it and let us know how it comes out.

 

[siroiszoo]

Quote:
Good Idea. I'll call Texas A&M tomorrow. If it won't cost me a fortune - kinda broke right now - I'll see if they can help figure it out.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

When I first saw them, they looked like engorged deer ticks. But, since you picked one off, it's obvious that they are not ticks. So, second thought it some type of fungi.

 

[Guinea Goonie]

The egg sacs are attached to the feathers. Remove the feathers. Treat your flock, cull this bird if you have to.

Reminder to everyone. Check at least ONE bird per day for lice and mites.

Check them thouroughly and check a different bird until the whole flock has run through your hands, even if it takes a few months.

You can mark them with indelible ink on the top of the beak if you have to.

Use DE copiously and clean your coop twice a year at least. Use sevin dust on the floor before you put down the new bedding.

If you see scaley leg mites or hints of them, use WD40 on the legs immediately. This is a quick and thourough treatment. Follow up with other methods.

Treat your roosts once per month with WD40. Be sure to treat the nesting boxes too.

Lice and Mites are always a part of owning chickens. Do not be embarrassed by their presence.


THANKS FOR THE PICS OP !!