Molting

[Silkie mama1]

I guess my silkie is going through a mini molt because she is only 7 months. She has been loosing her feathers and scratching away all the white off of them. Do you find your chickens doing front rolls from trying to scratch underneath themselves?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sounds more like she's having a balance problem. What do you mean she's scratching all the white off? She could have parasites, something that silkies are more prone too. A good dusting with a pyrethrin based poultry dust should help her. Check around her vent for clumps of lice nits.

 

[Silkie mama1]

She is deffinently working on getting her balance back since her neck was so low from wry neck, but the white stuff I was talking about was the casing around the new feathers. I know when I took her to the vet they saw nothing on her skin, but I wonder if dusting her would still be a good preventative. I check her skin a lot though because she will often stop casing after a mealworm to scratch.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I have found silkies sometimes need help grooming the casings off, especially if you have a special needs one. That's the reason I don't currently have silkies because of the one odd one that need extra care and help.

A good dusting doesn't hurt. Silkies also are the only breed I've routinely had parasite problems with, so mine would get dusted every few months. Some silkies are fine and feisty and others, well, require more work.