Do my chickens have mites?

[Masta Gzu]

This is my first post here and this is my first year of raising chickens. I have 4 chickens and currently they are about 15 weeks old. In the past week or so i have noticed that there is a lot of feathers on the floor in my coop. Also 3 of my chickens have bald spots behind and bellow their ears and one of them even has a little reddness. I have also noticed that their combs seem pale and chalky. Is this caused by mites and what should i do to get rid of them if my chickens have them?

 

[Judy]

If they have mites or lice you should be able to see them. More likely they are just dropping and growing feathers. They do a lot of this when young.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html

 

[DickGJ]

Mine are only going on 9-weeks old. The other day I came home and saw so many feathers in the coop...I did a panicked headcount since I would have swore one was killed by something. All present and accounted for...and I really couldn't see any "thin spots" in any of their feathers...but the amount in the coop was alarming to me. Everyone looks healthy and acts normal...I figure it's part of the molting/maturing process. I use food grade Diatomaceous Earth (DE) generously around my coop and run, and even some in the bedding of the coop. This seems to significantly reduce the amount of ticks, ants, lice, mites, and other creepy crawling undesirables around my chickens.