Is she telling me she has mites/lice? How do I know?

[theacw]

I have a 1 year old silkie (who is broody if that means anything) I force her to free range once a day and all she does the whole time is either scratch at her head or take dirt baths like crazy. Should I be concerned that she has them? I am not familiar with them at all....

I have tried to look for them but those dang silkie feathers are so hard to look through! I looked under her wings because I read that is a good place to look but didnt see anything.

I just wonder with the ways she has been acting. And she scratches her head pretty hard and a few times in a matter of 5-10 min.

 

[dawg53]

My understanding is that silkies are more prone to get lice or mites on their heads. Inspect her head and vent area. External parasites normally prefer warm moist places such as the vent area. Lice are fast movers, you'll be able to see them crawling and are usually whitish/off white in color. Mites look like pepper and are slow movers. Here's a link to help you identify external parasites:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ig140