bugs on my chickens

I have a barnevelder who has been listless, not eating much and getting skinnier all the time. Today I noticed some bugs crawling around on her. How do I find out what they are so I can treat her? I have heard if fleas and mites. Does anyone know of any pictures I can look at?

Oh yikes you want to get on that right away. Have you got any DE? Diatamashus earth, ( have no idea how that is spelled!!)
Or do you have bug powder for chickens?
Some people treat there birds with Eprinex, which is a cattle treatment but works on poultry. I am sure you will get lots of answers.
If one has bugs chances are the rest of your birds will also.
Good luck.

I know a guy who uses Raid (if you don't have any of the other stuff handy). A spritz under each wing, at the base of the neck and in the vent fluff. He swears by it.

I agree with chickeesmom the diatomaceous earth is wonderful stuff! I had a bad infestation a couple months ago and it worked great! Sprinkle it in every crack and crevice of your coop and where the birds roost. The most effective way used I found was putting it into their dust bath. It literally dries out the exoskeleton of mites or lice, then they die. I use it quite regularly to control another break out and it is natural. I have even heard it being used as a dewormer and if the chickens peck a little off the ground it will not hurt them. You just have to make sure it is the food grade that you buy. I picked a 25 lb bag up at Peavy Mart for $15. It has many other uses as well if you google it. Also the No Pest Strip can be helpful. I think they are around thirteen dollars and can be picked up almost anywhere. It says on the package they are for flies but the active ingredient works for lice/mites too. They will not rid you of your problem but do help!! Get those little buggers and get them good!! If it is mites you will have to treat more then once as their eggs take three weeks to hatch.

I just picked up a bag of food grade diamatatious earth . It was 72 dollars including tax Wow I hope it lasts along time.. We are going to do the coop today. Do I actually put it it on the bird? I checked a couple of other birds and didn't see anything. We have been using hay that was given to us in the nest boxes. I read somewhere that it was not good to use because of bugs.

I sprinkle a little dusting powder in the nests every time that I change the shavings. I also put a little DE on their food like hen scratch or even laying pellets as long as you don't give them more than about 1% of there diet as DE. I think that it is important to know if you have mites or lice because lice generally stay on the birds for food and warmth but mites only come out at night and feed on the birds while they roost but by daylight they find a crack to hide away in . I once had mites 13 years ago and I went into the coop at night after dark but I had locked all the birds outside that day and then after dark I went into the coop with a back pack sprayer with a bug spray that I bought at UFA and mixed with water and I had to wear a mask as well and there were millions of little dark specks all over the walls and ceiling and roosts and I sprayed every square inch and even gave it a second coat to be sure and also the thresh hold to keep any from coming back in and earlier that day I dusted all of the birds really well and rubbed the powder into their feathers. Then when I cleaned the coop I splashed dusting powder on the roosts , in the nests, on the floor and on the cracks and corners of the walls where they meet each other and also where they meet the floor. I repeated the dusting of the birds and I have never seen a flea or mite since. I also use those no pest strips but sometimes don't change them as often as required. good luck.