Do Chickens Get Dandruff??

[Angie16hearts]

Answered my question of the day!

 

[6of6chicks]

Me too! I was actually HOPING all that white was dandruff and not something creepy-crawly!

Does it itch when the new feathers come in? They are grooming non-stop. I was scratching the chest of one of my girls and she started twitching her head the same way a dog thumps their back leg when you scratch it's belly, lol!

 

[Chikk]

I thought it was snowing!
Thanks for the info.

 

[chuckmama]

Just checking on this too! I think my eight 12 week old birds have black scaly mites so I have been worried about their chicken dandruff and excessive (maybe not to them but to me) preening so I thought - more mites. I keep their coop clean and dry so I don't know why leg mites. I don't have a grassy tun for them so I bought a screen tent for them so they have fresh grass etc. I worry that they came from a chicken mill to the farm supply store where I bought them. Possible?

 

[Cacique500]

Here is Ms. Penny (RIP) going through a molt. If you zoom in you can see all the little pieces from the new feathers that she was grooming off.

 

[Rainieb]

Was wondering myself about the RIR 9 week old chicks I have. My daughter told me the chicks have dandruff!
This is Robin a week ago!

 

[FrankieDoodle]

Me & my sisters always call it dandruff
It's so gross, cause the chickens eat it

 

[Coacoachristie]

I too, thought this dandruff was a sign of mites, live or some kind of parasite. Good! However, my rooster is indoors most of the time, does he still need a dust bath? And what and why is a dust bath necessary?Thanks! I love this site!

 

[Sutremaine]

Dust baths are like dry shampoo, but used as regular cleaning rather than a refresher. The greasy chicken rolls around in the dirt, scrubs the dirt under its feathers to mop up the grease, then moves away from the dustbath and shakes off the greasy dirt to leave a clean chicken.

 

[Frazzemrat1]

Does it itch when the new feathers come in? They are grooming non-stop. I was scratching the chest of one of my girls and she started twitching her head the same way a dog thumps their back leg when you scratch it's belly, lol!

I would guess that it does, since I know it itched on my cockatiels. They loved it when I scratched their neck and basically 'preened' them.
I usually scratch my chickens under their feathers where my 'tiels like it, but chickens aren't really the 'petting' type, in my limited experience. I think that if they got over the idea of me touching them, they'd probably enjoy it. But they can't get past the human fingers. Plus, I don't think I've really seen chickens preening each other, like parrots will do with their bonded partner.