Are these lice eggs? Shredded wing feathers on broody Silkie hen.

[Feather and Spice]

Hi all,

I just want to check with you on the wing feathers of my broody Silkie hen. The ends are getting stripped/broken. I have just inspected her, no feather loss elsewhere. It's summer now where we are, with high temps. I do observe her pretty closely and do not know of any bullying going on. I did see this cluster of white on the base of her feathers, but don't know if they could be eggs, or whether that's something else?

I'm new to the whole lice/mites thing, and just want to be sure. Thank you so much for any advice you can give.

 

[Shadrach]

Hi all,

I just want to check with you on the wing feathers of my broody Silkie hen. The ends are getting stripped/broken. I have just inspected her, no feather loss elsewhere. It's summer now where we are, with high temps. I do observe her pretty closely and do not know of any bullying going on. I did see this cluster of white on the base of her feathers, but don't know if they could be eggs, or whether that's something else?

I'm new to the whole lice/mites thing, and just want to be sure. Thank you so much for any advice you can give.

They look like lice eggs from the picture.
Parasite eggs can be a bit of a problem to eradicate. Most of the treatments that kill live mites and lice don't kill the eggs.
Carefully check the feather shafts, particulalry around the vent and assess the extent of the problem. For mild infestations one can scrape the feather shafts with a finger nail to remove the bulk of the eggs. After that a regular treatment (once every seven days should do it) with permethrin should deal with the live lice/mites.