12 week old chicks missing feathers on head and neck

[MissLavender]

So I had a friend hatch out some chicks for me, and I'm noticing that they're still missing a lot of feathers on their head/neck area. There were a few mysterious deaths in this hatch between the ages of 6-10 weeks (chicks were found dead on the coop floor in the morning). I am supposed to get the two remaining chicks from him sometime in the near future after he has treated his whole flock and coop/run for mites. He has already treated the whole flock with corid and dewormers, and has been giving vitamins as well (after the corid treatment of course). I was just wondering if anyone here with more experienced eyes might be able to give me some insight about what might be causing these bald spots? The little red pullet is ESPECIALLY bad, and her feathers overall look tattered.

Thank you in advance for your help, I appreciate you all.

 

[ValerieJ]

Have they always been this way since you got them, and the feathers are not growing back, or have they lost more feathers?

 

[MissLavender]

Have they always been this way since you got them, and the feathers are not growing back, or have they lost more feathers?

I haven't gotten them yet, they're still with the guy who hatched them for me. Their chick fuzz molted out, and they've grown in their feathers but haven't grown in all of the feathers around their faces and necks yet, and one of the chicks has feathers that look very tattered.

 

[ValerieJ]

I haven't gotten them yet, they're still with the guy who hatched them for me. Their chick fuzz molted out, and they've grown in their feathers but haven't grown in all of the feathers around their faces and necks yet, and one of the chicks has feathers that look very tattered.

You also said he was treating for mites. Does he have other chickens? Do you have other chickens? I would be very leery of taking these chicks in. If there is something other than mites going on then you are risking the health of your other chickens. If you don't have other chickens, then your chicken environment.

Some of the experts here are probably in bed for the night, but let me tag a couple that might be able to give better advice than I can.

@Eggcessive @Ridgerunner @coach723

 

[MissLavender]

You also said he was treating for mites. Does he have other chickens? Do you have other chickens? I would be very leery of taking these chicks in. If there is something other than mites going on then you are risking the health of your other chickens. If you don't have other chickens, then your chicken environment.

Some of the experts here are probably in bed for the night, but let me tag a couple that might be able to give better advice than I can.

@Eggcessive @Ridgerunner @coach723

He does have other chickens, and so do I. I have given him several hens of mine in the past. I also have a little hen from his stock, which I got as a fertile egg to put under a broody hen last year.
Yeah, I'm having some reservations about taking them myself at this point, which is why I'm posting here. These chicks are the offspring of my birds, hatched and raised under one of his broody hens.

 

[ValerieJ]

He does have other chickens, and so do I. I have given him several hens of mine in the past. I also have a little hen from his stock, which I got as a fertile egg to put under a broody hen last year.
Yeah, I'm feeling a little uneasy about taking them myself at this point, which is why I'm posting here. These chicks are the offspring of my birds, hatched and raised under one of his broody hens.

I understand. I'm a big bio-security fanatic. I'm so careful about bringing birds in to my flock because they can be carriers of something my hens aren't immune to. I don't want to lose a single one of mine.

Loss of feathers can be just from the mites, and I hope it is, because you can fix that. But, I hope you will wait until you hear from the experts here.

I really hope it's nothing and all is okay. I have not dealt with any real illnesses at all, but I don't allow anyone who owns chickens around here to even walk into my chicken run.

 

[Eggcessive]

I don’t take or buy chickens from other people. There are too many diseases and parasites that you can bring in to your flock and harm your existing birds. Mites, face mites, or favus could be a problem for bare faces or heads, but feather mites could be a problem. Permethrin garden dust or permethrin 10 concentrate to use with water for a spray bottle are very good against mites and lice. Elector PSP is also a good choice. The birds and facilities must be treated in 7 day intervals to get rid of mites or lice.

 

[mountaingirl196]

Why did he treat with Corid? Did he have an outbreak of coccidiosis?

 

[MissLavender]

Why did he treat with Corid? Did he have an outbreak of coccidiosis?

It was my suggestion, more as a preventative because he was losing chicks, and coccidiosis is a common culprit. I figure it can't do any harm to cover all of your bases when you have young birds randomly dying in the night. He said the two chicks that died suddenly had appeared healthy the night before, and were found dead on the coop floor the next morning. They died a few weeks apart from each other. I am wondering if the cold had something to do with it? It was January and nights can get down into the teens where we are. However, they were more than 6 weeks old at the time and fully feathered, so unless they were already weakened by something else that shouldn't be happening, right?