With Picture: Mite Eggs or Other?

[MamaHen56]

Are these mite eggs in the tail feathers? Or just dirt? Or something else?

Background: They are 11 week old pullets, moved outside 5 weeks ago. They are in an enclosed coop and run (Wichita Cabin Coop style) so no contact with wild birds. We have seen no evidence of rodents or other evidence of mites (ie. have seen no adult mites). They *are* losing some feathers, but we attributed this to them just losing their juvenile feathers / the current colder weather (fall in Atlantic Canada). They are very happy and healthy otherwise (not lethargic, no blood or bald spots, eating and drinking well).

The smaller flecks present on the rest of the white tail feathers in the picture are present on all 5 girls. The feather that is the worst (ie. has the most black) is only on this one bird. It has been there 2 weeks or so.

Any advice would be most appreciated.

 

[Cknldy]

Does it rub off? Is it gritty? Are there areas like that close to the skin? Could be mite poo but unsure from the picture.

 

[MamaHen56]

It doesn't rub off, nor is it gritty. If I didn't know better (like, if it was on something else) I would have said it was a mildew stain! There is no thickness to it at all. If you closed your eyes and ran your finger along the feather, you'd never know it was there.

And, no, their skin all looks really healthy and normal. No red or sore looking spots and nothing like this (the dark stains) anywhere but the tail feathers.

 

[MamaHen56]

They are hybrid laying hens. Could it just be a spotted coloring in the feather itself? Their brown feathers are speckled with white, but it actually never occurred to me (until about 5 seconds ago) that their white feathers could be naturally speckled with black... Could they?

 

[Cknldy]

I zoomed in on the pic and yes, it could be just feather color. Healthy looking bird from what I can see