What is this?

[Rachelle Elaine]

Found in a towel after bathing my girl. Used scotch tape so ignore the hairs and threads. No noticable scabs out skin irritations.
Think the population is small at this point but want to nip in the bud asap

 

[AGeese]

Looks like lice.

 

[Rachelle Elaine]

So... I'm very new to chickens. And after more research I think you're exactly right.
I think she even had lice eggs on her feathers and I wasn't sure that wasn't normal until today when I realized that isn't a fungus or normal but seems to be egg sacs. I'll try to get a photo of that too.
Any idea how to treat for lice

 

[cherrynberry]

So... I'm very new to chickens. And after more research I think you're exactly right.
I think she even had lice eggs on her feathers and I wasn't sure that wasn't normal until today when I realized that isn't a fungus or normal but seems to be egg sacs. I'll try to get a photo of that too.
Any idea how to treat for lice

Get some permethrin dust and spray. I would treat the whole flock as lice spreads. Dust them down to the bottom of their feathers, try to get to the skin. Its easier to use the permethrin spray for the coop. I like to treat in 7 day intervals. This will kill lice.

 

[Bonkerelli]

So... I'm very new to chickens. And after more research I think you're exactly right.
I think she even had lice eggs on her feathers and I wasn't sure that wasn't normal until today when I realized that isn't a fungus or normal but seems to be egg sacs. I'll try to get a photo of that too.
Any idea how to treat for lice

Would recommend diatomaceous earth. This will kill the lice. First, would recommend cleaning out the coop, sprinkle the sleeping, nesting areas and coop floor with DE. Lice like to hang out near the vent, under wings and back of neck/head. You can take a handful of DE and dust your chickens and put some where they dust bath. Sprinkle DE on the birds and in the coop for a week. They can eat this stuff and it wouldn't hurt them.

 

[Bonkerelli]

So... I'm very new to chickens. And after more research I think you're exactly right.
I think she even had lice eggs on her feathers and I wasn't sure that wasn't normal until today when I realized that isn't a fungus or normal but seems to be egg sacs. I'll try to get a photo of that too.
Any idea how to treat for lice

Also, DE kills mites and ticks and any other creepy crawly with an exoskeleton.

 

[tripletfeb]

OP, please don't use DE, it does NOT kill or prevent any creepy crawlies in your flock. Use permethrin, either the spray or the dust. Or both, like @cherrynberry said

 

[cherrynberry]

Would recommend diatomaceous earth. This will kill the lice. First, would recommend cleaning out the coop, sprinkle the sleeping, nesting areas and coop floor with DE. Lice like to hang out near the vent, under wings and back of neck/head. You can take a handful of DE and dust your chickens and put some where they dust bath. Sprinkle DE on the birds and in the coop for a week. They can eat this stuff and it wouldn't hurt them.

DE doesn't kill lice.

 

[Mrs J]

I have used DE. I heard it was all singing all dancing so decided to give it a go because my girls got mites. It didn’t help a single bit with the mites and I noticed my girls were breathing heavy and sneezing. I stopped the DE straight away, and the breathing problems, sneezing stopped. I used Ivermectin (I am in the Uk) a spot on treatment for the girls. I also emptied all of the bedding out of the coop, and sprayed with total mite kill, every join, roost, laying boxes, I covered every inch. Then I repeated the process 7 days later. Then to be extra sure I repeated agin another 7 days later.

 

[Bonkerelli]

@cherrynberry
@tripletfeb
It actually does... I recently used it to treat mites and lice. After a few treatments ALL are dead. I do not use permethrin because it has the potential to harm chickens. Its says to avoid with the face and eyes of the birds (kinda hard since they clean themselves) and is toxic to humans, bees, and cats. I'm not arguing but everyone has a different way of treating their birds.

We are here to give people advice, they can still do research on their own to use a product they're comfortable with.