Silkies with dirty heads.

[aliwishes]

Hi there
We are new to the world of chickens ! We have 8 chicks that are now in the neighborhood of 3 months old who we love to death. 3 of them are silkies with the kooky hairdoo of course which i'm sure is going to be getting more fluffy and fly-away. My question is , is it normal for their head hair to always be horribly dirty? And how the heck are they managing it? It it that its long and when they bend forward to eat or drink they are dipping their head in whatever they are chowing on at the time? I just can't figure it out! The rest of there plumage is pristine! very white and clean but the head feathers are filthy! tehy almost look greasy! any advise ? should i wash it or let it be? any thoughts on why this happens?
Thanks for the help!
Kerry

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Photos would help, but the two very different things that spring to mind are mites and trying to see. Northern fowl mites tend to be in the crest, and can make an almighty mess (in addition to being a danger to the birds' life). Or I have had birds stuff their heads in their water, then flatten it in the dirt to hold it back from their eyes so they can see. In that case, trim the feathers that block vision with baby nail scissors.

 

[aliwishes]

They are still young enough that their head feathers (im sure there is an official term for them) are not getting in their way vision wise. I will do a check for any mites I guess but we have been so good about keeping the area they have been in clean and they only moved into their new giant chicken condo my husband built last week. I will see if I can post a picture. I don't think its mites though, its more like they are getting something on their head or putting their head in something. (The watermelon yesterday made sense for messiness but they dont get that very often). Thanks for your imput!

 

[Me & Jack]

First thing I thought about was mites. For the crest to be dirty and nothing else is a common occurence with mites. Mites are often transferred by wild birds, such as the sparrows that might come in to eat from the chicken feeders. Cleanliness won't affect whether or not your birds get mites, so don't let that lull you into a false sense of security.