Strange illness?

yellowherb said:

Have you wormed them recently?

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rebrascora said:

How old are they and what makes you think it is out of season for moulting? Some chickens naturally moult in the winter although late summer/autumn is the norm. It can depend on a number of factors including when they hatched. If they are over a year old and have not moulted yet then it is most likely a normal, if slightly late in the season, moult. Combs going pale and shrivelled is a normal part of the moulting process and some look and feel pretty sorry for themselves whilst others are more stoic and carry on like nothing is amiss.
Please don't be tempted into pumping chemicals into your chickens if they don't need them. If you think you may have a worm problem then it is possible to get a faecal sample checked at a lab or the vets for worm eggs, but feather loss is not really a symptom of them and certain chemicals used for worming can actually damage the new feathers coming in I believe, so best to be sure before you worm them at this point in time.

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rebrascora said:

How old are they and what makes you think it is out of season for moulting? Some chickens naturally moult in the winter although late summer/autumn is the norm. It can depend on a number of factors including when they hatched. If they are over a year old and have not moulted yet then it is most likely a normal, if slightly late in the season, moult. Combs going pale and shrivelled is a normal part of the moulting process and some look and feel pretty sorry for themselves whilst others are more stoic and carry on like nothing is amiss.
Please don't be tempted into pumping chemicals into your chickens if they don't need them. If you think you may have a worm problem then it is possible to get a faecal sample checked at a lab or the vets for worm eggs, but feather loss is not really a symptom of them and certain chemicals used for worming can actually damage the new feathers coming in I believe, so best to be sure before you worm them at this point in time.    

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rebrascora said:

Hi again

It may still just be a late juvenile moult or an early adult moult. Can you see any pin feathers coming in where they have lost plumage? 
Are they eating and drinking ok? What do their poops look like? Is there anything else that makes you think they are ill?

Have you checked them for lice and the coop for mites? Check in the cracks and crevices of the coop during the day. I use a dustpan and brush to sweep debris from where the roost meets the wall into the dustpan and then tip it onto a piece of white card to check for mites, which usually live and breed in the dark crevices of the coop during the day but crawl onto the chickens and suck their blood at night... hence any you find will be blood red and easy to spot on a white background. Lice are more of an irritant as they live off skin debris on the chicken. They are grey brown coloured.  Usually you see clusters of their grey coloured eggs at the base of feather shafts particularly in warm areas of the chicken like the vent and under the wings. Picking a chicken off the roost at  night and examining them using a head torch, parting their feathers in the relevant areas mentioned above, will tell you if lice or mites are an issue.

If you see pin feathers coming in where they previously had bald spots then that indicates it is most likely a moult and the best thing to do for them is to up their protein intake.

Keep us posted with what you find.

Regards

Barbara

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