Dose my Silkie Have Bugs?

[mdtansley]

My 7 month old laying silkie hen is acting strange lately. I determined in an earlier thread that she is being broody and that the heat got to her a little, and I have begun dealing with that. She is doing better, but not I have reasons that lead me to believe that she might have bugs of some sort. She shakes/stretches/flaps her wings and her little silkie feathers and I've seen her pecking all around her body. We looked around for bugs a little bit but we didn't see anything big and concluded that any smaller bugs would be very hard to find. How should I treat this? She and our other hens do take little dust baths in a nice dirt area they found that is the perfect area and medium to do so, but should I give her a real bath? I know silkies shouldn't get wet, but I've read about others giving their chickens baths and then blow drying. Should I do that with a bug treatment? Any suggestions or even any other things this might be are very appreciated.

 

[Mamatomany123]

You shouldnt treat for anything unless you know what it is. I would check the roost at night also for mites. Mites dont stay on the chickens but bite them at night and can make them itchy.

 

[mdtansley]

You shouldnt treat for anything unless you know what it is. I would check the roost at night also for mites. Mites dont stay on the chickens but bite them at night and can make them itchy.

Ok I will make sure to look thank you!

 

[Eggcessive]

Some species of mite can remain on chickens 24/7 while the roost mite only gets on them at night. Lice and mites should be seen crawling around and their eggs would be left behind. I would not treat for those until I saw them or the eggs. Gordons or Martins Permethrin 10 liquid concentrate can be mixed with water and sprayed on the chicken to treat lice or mites. At least 2 treatments every 7-10 days are required to get the lice or mites and then the newly hatched ones before they reproduce. Most birds and chickens will scratch a bit and groom themselves with oil from their preen gland. Here is a good article with pictures of what to look for:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/