feathers issue

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bygrace53

bygrace53

Chirping
9 Years
Oct 4, 2013
53
2
94
Gracie my barred rock is one and a half years old. she has six sisters.all same age. they have a large coop with plenty of runs/space. they have free range time most evenings. Gracie was being mounted by the dominant female. we do not have a rooster. she developed a bald area on her back. so i put an apron or saddle on her designed to protect from over mating. next she started losing feathers on her bottom..vent area left and right sides. now after a month she is losing feathers on the tops of the wings that are exposed above the saddle. the only thing i see is her picking at them herself. she is really a pistol so i doubt any others are picking at her. not sure. i have checked for mites etc but i dont really know what that looks like.

thoughts on what is wrong???
 
Howdy bygrace53

Is it possible she is moulting? 18 months old is normally around the time they have their first moult.

Can you see ‘pin-feathers’ where the new feathers are coming through?

This is Dusty and she went through a hard moult in March this year and is a good example of the feather loss and pin feathers seen in moulting:

 
The other girls moulted some time ago...
The back feathers are not growing in at all. I peaked under the saddle today, it's quite bare. The wing ones that are most recently lost have reddish skin which I did not see during the others' moulting times (there skin wasn't reddish during moult). And, it has been way too long (I think) for a moult.
 
Hhhmm, OK bygrace53 if not a moult (I agree that moulting is not normally associated with redness), we are getting into unchartered waters for me.

While I have dealt with a mite infestation, there was no feather loss involved but as this link in the Learning Centre mentions:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/mites-chicken-pests-how-to-protect-your-chickens-from-mites

Infestations also cause feather loss, usually on the back, because the chicken will usually over preen and pull out her feathers in an effort to get relief. Sometimes the chicken's skin will be irritated and red.
 

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