Guinea head twitching

[BobbyCanada]

My guy is constantly twitching his head and scratching it with his back foot . He is free range by day and sleeps locked in my barn at night. I cannot hold or get too close to him (he was a stray that found my home and stayed). He lives alone as far as birds go... he takes dust baths etc... I feed him seed but he has plenty of bugs on my 40 acres. What could it be that is bothering him. and can I help without catching him?
I’ve had him 3-4 years now and am quite attached! Any help would be appreciated.

 

[R2elk]

My guy is constantly twitching his head and scratching it with his back foot . He is free range by day and sleeps locked in my barn at night. I cannot hold or get too close to him (he was a stray that found my home and stayed). He lives alone as far as birds go... he takes dust baths etc... I feed him seed but he has plenty of bugs on my 40 acres. What could it be that is bothering him. and can I help without catching him?
I’ve had him 3-4 years now and am quite attached! Any help would be appreciated.

It could be mites. I don't know of anyway to deal with mites short of catching the guinea first.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

It could be mites. I don't know of anyway to deal with mites short of catching the guinea first.

You could try spraying him for mites with permethrin while he’s roosting and see if that makes a difference... I recently sprayed ours on the back and vent with a garden sprayer on their roosts at night with a red lamp. I also sprayed the roosts. I talked a little so they knew it was me, and they didn’t do much when I sprayed them. If that doesn’t do it for him, I think you’ll have to catch him and take a closer look...