M
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I’m sort of at a loss. A few weeks ago I concluded my 5 month old silkies have mites or lice. Tho I could not find them when examining their skin/feathers, they’ve shown all the behaviors: excessive scratching, preening, reluctance to get into the coop at night, head shaking, ruffling feathers.
And *a lot* of intense dust baths.
I ruled out other illnesses by absence of other symptoms.
One of the three has also been losing feathers (not a lot but consistently I am finding newly shed/plucked feathers everyday from just the one). This same silkie has had a dirty vent in recent weeks, I considered vent gleet, but determined it to be constipation, especially considering the salt baths offered immediate relief
But the dirty vent/constipation also left me thinking mites.
However, I have been following all the guidance for cleaning them and their coop and run, providing appropriate dust bathing, etc for a few weeks and I don’t see the behaviors changing. And still don’t see mites.
Is there anything else that could explain these same behaviors that I may be overlooking?
I don’t see anything else concerning (behavior, eating/drinking, illness, etc)
I’m new and still learning. Thank you!
And *a lot* of intense dust baths.
I ruled out other illnesses by absence of other symptoms.
One of the three has also been losing feathers (not a lot but consistently I am finding newly shed/plucked feathers everyday from just the one). This same silkie has had a dirty vent in recent weeks, I considered vent gleet, but determined it to be constipation, especially considering the salt baths offered immediate relief
But the dirty vent/constipation also left me thinking mites.
However, I have been following all the guidance for cleaning them and their coop and run, providing appropriate dust bathing, etc for a few weeks and I don’t see the behaviors changing. And still don’t see mites.
Is there anything else that could explain these same behaviors that I may be overlooking?
I don’t see anything else concerning (behavior, eating/drinking, illness, etc)
I’m new and still learning. Thank you!