Advise for healing unfeathered areas

[SandyC]

Hi,

Last winter, two of my Americaunas got areas on them from over zealous roos that left them bare in a few spots. The other chickens seem to pick in those areas and they never have healed over with feathers again. Do I have to isolate these chickens to get the feather to grow back? I hate to, because it is summer and they are used to free ranging all day. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[farm_mom]

Some people put saddles on their girlies to help protect them from roos and help them regrow feathers (the birds cannot pick at the area.) If you do a search here for saddles I'm sure you'll find all sorts of info. Some people feed dry cat food and other high protein goodies to help aid in feather regrowth. In my experience, the girls who always look scraggly and take forever to regrow feathers are the best layers of the bunch. They put more energy into laying and less into feather growth. Good luck!

 

[ChickenPat]

This is definetly the case with my hens. They are 1½ years old (8 of them) and you could count on one hand how many days they missed laying. They are a bit scraggly, not sure what from, 2 of them have all there feathers so I don't believe it is mites, but they lay the largest eggs, more like JUMBO eggs every day. I thought maybe it was the roo doing it to them, so he has been seperated from them now for almost a month, but still, no feathers are growing back yet? I was wondering if it is possible to 7 dust their coop? It is open on all sides with plenty of fresh air, sun and shade. They are on the dirt, with hay and wood chippings used every other week? Just wondering about the 7 dust just in case.

 

[Chirpy]

I have heard (here) that most chickens will not regrow their feathers until their next molt. I have no personal experience with that yet but I do have one hen that's got some bare spots (due to feather picking) and she hasn't started to regrow any feathers in those spots. Her first molt will be this fall ... then I'll see how things grow back.

 

[SandyC]

When do first molts happen? These chickens are about 13 months old now. You are right about the egg laying. They are two of my best layers.

 

[farm_mom]

Molts usually happen in the fall or spring, but can happen anytime really. Like I had said before, my best layers were always scraggly. They barely even fully feathered in from a molt before the next one came around. So, if that's what you're experiencing, I don't think a molt will help you. If you don't see any bugs on them, and don't see anyone picking (picking can be a sign that the birds need more protein btw)at the area anymore I wouldn't lose sleep over it. You just have a couple of good layers on your hands there!!

As for the seven dust, I cannot help you as I've never used it. I've used DE before to dust nest boxes, coop crannies and just put a big ole pile out in the yard for the birds to bathe in. If you use the search function here, maybe you can find the answer you're looking for on the seven dust. Good luck!