chicken problems!A VILE CREEPING THING....

[hellymelly]

I am a new chicken keeper,and have a couple of issues ,help..!spotted a LOUSE on one of my chickens,and while rummaging through her feathers,a HIDEOUS LONG BROWNISH BLACK THING crept away in a truly gruesome slinking fashion,I only saw its rear end,and that looked rather like the rear of an earwig but without the pincers.what the hell is it ? So I need a louse eradicator and any info on THE THING uggh,it makes me itchy just thinking about it.Also one of the chickens has the runs but I can't work out which one and its not getting better.they look cheery otherwise and are eating well-in fact they seem constantly hungry,is that normal? I am giving them constant access to layers pellet but they seem to be ravenous.

I don't know a single thing about keeping chickens, but did a search and found this
insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/aimg36.html

bump

uggh that us horrible,and it is similar to her louse,but it isn't the THING.I have checked both books I have on chicken keeping and there is no mention of anything like the THING.it is freaking me out!

Hm doesn't sound like a louse indeed!
For lice Pyrethrine spray such as pigeon spray works well just spray every 3 days for 2 weeks to ensure all eggs are dead.

Ivomectin is a kill-all cure you give to chicken orally the vet will have it. I don't use it unless it's a bad case.

diatomous earth sprinkled all all chook and in nesting box deals with most things, johnsons pigeon lice powder will kill them if they wont shift but you have a 7 day egg withdrawal.