What is wrong with my hen??

Date sort Score sort
ascott99

ascott99

In the Brooder
5 Years
Nov 14, 2014
38
2
34
Previously 2 of our hens had bare backs from our rooster. We purchased some chicken coats and their feathers grew back nice and thick. They look great! Today as I was cleaning the coop I noticed a huge pile of feather in the corner of the coop under where they sleep. I inspected the hens close and noticed one of my black sex links was missing feathers under her tail. Any idea what this is? She had never looked ratty like this before and they are about a 1 1/2 years old. So they haven't molted yet. Could that be it? It worries me because it's getting cold and snowed a bit yesterday. Please help!
400


400


400
 
It's probably a molt, the more productive the hen the harder the molt, the good thing is they grow back faster, keep your protein levels up to help her regrow them faster.
 
Last edited:
Molting feather loss looks different from feather picking loss. With molting, upon close inspection, you'll see evenly spaced pin feathers emerging in discrete areas of the body, since molt usually proceeds in a systematic manner.

Feather loss due to feather picking or cannibalism is almost the direct opposite. You'll see nude areas with no pin feathers. Or you'll see nude areas of skin with bloody or broken pin feathers and shafts and ragged, broken feathers.

From your description and the age of your chickens, it is probably molt. And yes, some chickens seem to pick the inopportune time of the coldest part of the winter in which to molt. The good news is that the cold weather will stimulate new feather growth and your hen should have a new suit of feathers in close to no time at all.
 

Similar threads

H
Hen Back feathers.
Replies
3
Views
453
SmiYa0126
SmiYa0126
Brightdays
Bullied hen
Replies
1
Views
584
Sally PB
S
LindsayDarling
Is my rooster molting?
Replies
8
Views
744
LindsayDarling
LindsayDarling
G
Rooster is dividing our flock and picking on the original hens
Replies
7
Views
966
JacinLarkwell
JacinLarkwell
StaGar
Salmon Faverolle losing head/face/neck feathers
Replies
1
Views
802
oldhenlikesdogs
oldhenlikesdogs

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom