18-mo Buff orp hen looks like she's been in a war!

[me&thegals]

My 18-month old buff orpington has crazily messed up feathers going every which way and not lying flat. We started to wonder if she had gone blind in 1 eye, as she stands still with her head cocked sideways and lets us get much closer to her than we have been able to in the past. I thought her eyes were sunken, but on closer inspection it's really that the skin around her eyes is puffy and a bit lumpy. She is missing almost all head feathers.

Any ideas? We have 100 birds and it's difficult to track each one, so I can't comment on her poop, eating habits or egg laying. I have noticed these symptoms for a few weeks now. She appears to not be wasting.

 

[LoneCowboy]

Is she in with a roo? Roo's can cause they kind of damage to a chicken. Could she be starting to molt? I don't know about the head thing. I'd seperate her from the others for now and keep a close eye on her.

 

[me&thegals]

I will watch more closely. There are 4 roos with approx 100 hens. They are pastured so can pretty easily escape one another. But, there are a couple new roos (4-5 months old) that are starting to get pretty big. It's not the typical roo damage that I have seen in the past--missing back and sometimes wing feathers, but I will watch for this possibility. Thanks!

Any other ideas? Since having a bit of a spell of dizziness myself recently, that's what her behavior reminds me of. Almost like she is suffering from a spinning sensation, head tipping to the side, not moving anywhere very quickly...

 

[LoneCowboy]

I understand the dizziness. I have BPPV (BENIGN PAROXYSMAL POSITIONAL VERTIGO) you should look it up. I'd get dizzy even when I laid down. I went to the Ear Nose and Throat doctor, had me fixed up pronto.


My older girls look pretty messed up too. I think it's roo damage mixed with molting. I think their Molt is mess up because they used to get picked on a lot from the other girls (all have bear backs) so they've been trying to grow feathers all along.

 

[me&thegals]

Thanks, lonecowboy. Would it make any difference that the original 50 18-month olds have now been joined by approximately 50 5 month olds, including 3 new roosters?

 

[dlhunicorn]

do you have pics of the "crazy" feathering (and since when and how long have they been like that)

 

[me&thegals]

After more discussion with hubby, he thinks she has looked this way for months! I just noticed it for the last multiple weeks--summer is crazy around here and I lose track of the time easily. So, to be safe, let's say at least 3 months. DH thinks she is actually looking better than she used to.

I can't do pix, but the feathers are just "wild." Not only does she have most missing on her head and back, but those remaining stand up in all directions. That's the strangest part--they go forwards, sideways, everywhere.

 

[Indiana hens]

I am sorry to say that I have had a hen last week to look this way. She got stuck under a piece of fence wire with her wings stuck. The roosters tried to have more than just their way with her. I guess I guess maybe they were frustrated.

 

[me&thegals]

I guess it's the persistence of this that has me baffled. One bad fight or molt, she'd start looking better, right? But months of a crazy-looking bird, acting too docile and puffy eyed? I'm just puzzled. Thanks for the ideas so far!

 

[dlhunicorn]

well, hmmm... has she EVER had normal feathering?
If it were not for her age I was initially thinking of this (second link has photos of the abnormal feathering associated with it):
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/89/malabsorption-syndrome-runting-stunting

http://www.cccfeeds.com/Documents/Poultry Resources/RuntingStuntingSyndrome.pdf

If your bird showed no signs of the above (and also if she did) then I would suggest you give her POLYVISOL Enfamil formulation four drops a day in beak for a week then taper off the next (this is a childrens liquid A-B-D vitamin) and also offer her some live culture yogurt (a good quality non-flavored one) free choice alongside her feed. If you have a general poultry supplement you can also add that at the recommended level to her feed.
Here is an article on vitamin deficiencies in poultry and you can see the specific ones associated with feathering abnormalities (which the polyvisol should cover the most commonly occuring ones)
http://www.vfcdnicholas.com/anh/nutrient_deficiencies.doc