bad looking hen's feathers

[sousap]

Hi!
I have 3 black transylvanian naked neck hens and 1 rooster (not black).
I live in Azores islands - Portugal and quite close to the sea shore, meaning lots of humidity (salty).
They are about 10 mounts old and they live outside in a fair big but limited space.
One of the hen's feathers start looking bad as you can see in the pics.
Is started almost 2 mounts ago.
I believe she's not giving me eggs anymore, and I start to see the others putting this one apart.
Any solution to cure?

thanks in advance
kind regards
Paulo
(I'm sorry about my english)

 

[chicmom]

Hello Paulo and welcome to BYC from Ohio in the United States!

Two things come to mind regarding this hen. One is that she could be the rooster's favorite, and maybe he breeds with her roughly.

The other is she might be on the bottom of the pecking order, and that's why she gets picked on. Unfortunately, chickens can be ruthless this way.

You can buy a thing called a "Hen Saddle". They're like a little apron that goes over the back of the hen to shield her back and back feathers from the rooster. I've used them and hens don't seem to mind wearing them at all. They're inexpensive too. Members here sell them on BYC.

Also, just give her a quick check for mites or lice too, but if the other chickens look fine, she probably doesn't have them.

Good luck!
Sharon

 

[klmclain1]

Your English is great! I understood you perfectly. Just a couple of guesses.. 1.) Did she go through a nasty moult? Are her feathers starting to grow back? If so, she probably moulted. OR 2.) Does she need a good dose of protein? Maybe a grower feed or some cat food for a couple of weeks? OR 3.) Is someone picking on her and pulling her feathers? In that case they may all need an additional protein source like dry catfood. I hope one of these fits your situation!

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

If the rooster is only 10 months old as well, I suspect he is to blame for the condition of the hens feathers. She probably stopped laying because he's stressing her out. Good looking birds you've got there though! Good luck with them....