low tail, pale comb, bloody/poopy vent, and lots of little bugs

[chickenfan01]

Hi all! I need help. About a week ago I noticed that one of my older hens' comb went went from red to a very light pink. I chalked it up to our cold weather/molting until today when I noticed that she was holding her tailfeathers quite low. My first thought is that she is eggbound and when I went to feel her vent I noticed it was incredibly poopy and there was some blood along with hundreds of small little white bugs. I want to say that they were lice and I will check my other girls for any and look into how to treat these. Could the lice be the reason for the pale comb and bloody/poopy vent or is that likely a separate issue? Any advice is welcome, I am worried for my little girl. Thank you!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi all! I need help. About a week ago I noticed that one of my older hens' comb went went from red to a very light pink. I chalked it up to our cold weather/molting until today when I noticed that she was holding her tailfeathers quite low. My first thought is that she is eggbound and when I went to feel her vent I noticed it was incredibly poopy and there was some blood along with hundreds of small little white bugs. I want to say that they were lice and I will check my other girls for any and look into how to treat these. Could the lice be the reason for the pale comb and bloody/poopy vent or is that likely a separate issue? Any advice is welcome, I am worried for my little girl. Thank you!

Welcome To BYC

Can you post photos of your hen and her vent?

White bugs - are they maggots?
Is her vent prolapsed?

How have you treated the bugs - have you used a Permethrin dust or spray?

Hopefully with more information and photos - we can offer some suggestions.

 

[chickenfan01]

Yes! I haven’t treated with anything yet as I’d only noticed right before I posted. Upon further inspection though the bugs seem to be a little reddish and I really don’t think they’re maggots. I cant really see her vent super well due to the amount of poop but I don’t believe it’s prolapsed

 

[Paz]

The pale comb can very well be a result of parasites eating her up. Are they small walking type of bug? You said they look like lice, they CAN be lice or mites. I would check under her wings as well to see if you can see them walking around there.
Edit: if the lice are the cause of the pale comb, the entirety of your hen should look pale, and that would also mean she’s anemic already.
I would treat the entire coop, meaning all of the birds and the surroundings.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Yes! I haven’t treated with anything yet as I’d only noticed right before I posted. Upon further inspection though the bugs seem to be a little reddish and I really don’t think they’re maggots. I cant really see her vent super well due to the amount of poop but I don’t believe it’s prolapsed

Hard to tell, but they look like Poultry Lice.

I'd give her a good wash up to get the poop off, this may help kill some of the lice too. You'll be better to access if the blood is from the lice and her or another bird picking at the skin too.
Those little white cotton bud like things at the base of the feathers are nits (eggs). These are usually hard to remove but once you wash her up, apply some triple antibiotic ointment to any abrasions or irrigated skin, apply a coat of the ointment to those buds too, it may help them fall off.

Give her a good dusting with a Permethrin based poultry dust. I put the dust in an old sock, then use that like a powder puff to dust all over, work that dust through the feathers all the way to the skin.
Do get the vent area, underneath her, around the legs, work the dust through the wings and under the wings, top of head/neck - all over.