Pullet with dandruff?

[Greyscale Rainbow]

On Saturday I bought a ~10 week old Welsummer bantam pullet from the city farm where I work. Welfare standards are generally high, and I haven't seen any evidence of lice or mites (but I'm not ruling it out!). However, I currently have her sat on my lap, and she seems to be shedding a lot of dandruff-like material (I'm wearing black trousers which makes it quite obvious too), which seems to be coming from under her feathers. However, it does look slightly like one layer of nail does - could it be coming from the shaft of her feathers, or is it really little bits of dead skin? She doesn't seem to be preening any more than is usual, nor does she seem to be in distress.

I do have some pyrethrum based powder meant for birds which I was intending on dosing her (and the others) with. Will this help?

Any ideas? And TIA all.

(PS sorry I haven't been on much lately, GCSEs (exams broadly equivalent to a High School Diploma) have taken over, but they're all finished now

)

 

[silkieluver_07]

It sounds like she's molting , its most likely old feather shafts. I dont think you have anything to worry about.

All my chickens are molting now.

 

[Greyscale Rainbow]

Perhaps it's the weather too? We've been having lovely sunshine up until this weekend, and since then we've had torrential rain on and off - in July!

 

[Greyscale Rainbow]

This is what my leg looked like after appx 40 minutes of her sat on me, although that's not all of it - some fell off when I went to get the camera and some landed on the chair.

And this is the little lady in question - definitely not a big bird at all!

 

[SpottedCrow]

Nope..she's fine...it's just the waxy covering coming off the new feathers...
Beautiful birds by the way.