Black powdery stuff?!!

[Sweetheat]

I scoop the poop board daily and this wasn’t here yesterday. Tons of black powder on top of the sand. It’s usually white. We have sand and PDZ and it is not damp. Not sure what this is from but it happened overnight while they were roosting which makes me think mites???

 

[Eggcessive]

I would certainly inspect your chickens at night while they are on the roosts for any signs of mites on their skin. The red or roost mite hides in the coop cracks and under boards during the daytime, and come out at night onto the birds. The chicken mites will be see on the chickens both day and night. Here are some good links to read about mites and various treatments:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/

https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8162.pdf

 

[Sweetheat]

Just a thought...I have a pot of black soil that had weeds in it that they ate up and now they just sit in the pot. Is it possible it could be dirt that came off their feathers?

 

[Eggcessive]

It would be good to investigate that and find the cause of the black powder.

 

[Sweetheat]

Ok well no mites or lice in case anyone was wondering. I’m thinking it has to be the soil that was in a pot in their run. It looks like the black gold kind of soil and it was damp yesterday so if they were trying to dust bathe in there I can see how it would come off later once dry and fluffing on the roosts. It wasn’t fuzzy like mold and was only on horizontal surfaces as a dust would fall. If it’s back again tomorrow though...this will be a big puzzle.