Mites?

[RobN72]

Hi there! Just a quick question. So I have three chickens. Pearl, Bonnie and Roxy. I need some advice. Recently I have noticed that they have been dustbathing a lot more. They never usually use their dustbath but now they use it at least once every day. I thought that this could be because they have mites. I decided to check their feathers for mites. They had just dustbathed and it was wet! So they were quite muddy. I checked as much as I could though but coulldnt see anything moving. How else can I check and prevent mites? I clean the coop every week and put mites powder all over when I do so. Sorry for asking so many questions. This is my first flock.
Thank you!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Check them at night while roosting.

Could they be molting? My birds dust bath a lot during molt.

 

[RobN72]

No I don’t thing they are

 

[RobN72]

*think

 

[RobN72]

Any more answers

 

[Swbertrand1]

Easier to check them when dry for sure. Your profile pic on the forums doesn't show where you're located, but if you're having unusually hot weather, you might see your chickens dust-bath more often because the ground/dirt is usually cooler than the air temperature.

If they're trying to cool off, they'll dig down a few inches to where the dirt is cool and kick it up on themselves to get a cool dirt refresh...

 

[RobN72]

It hasn’t been very hot recently and has been raining a lot. Where they dust bathe there are many bushes above so it is quite damp.

 

[raingarden]

Wouldn't that be a mud bath? Give them some real dust and see how they respond.