bald bottoms and swollen tummys!

[shell3]

Hi all , a couple of days ago i noticed feathers on the coop floor which is unusual!
but i couldnt see where they were coming from, i wondered if mt two girls had started to molt as they were a year old in march and havnt molted yet, my third hen was ill and that made her molt early.
tonight i put them to bed and when running my hands over them as usual feeling quickly for any problems , i felt skin! on closer inspection my two girls have bald butts and i think their tummys feel slighty swollen!
i thought maybe mites of some sort? and theyve plucked the area due to itching? i cant see any mites.
any idea what could be going on? or what i should do? ive got DE shall i put some in the coop? or do i need something else to treat mites, sholud i treat fo mites if i cant see any? im worried this is something bad! they get on well and i havnt seen any pecking going on,
any advise is very welcome, im so worried.

 

[Haunted55]

Hi all , a couple of days ago i noticed feathers on the coop floor which is unusual!
but i couldnt see where they were coming from, i wondered if mt two girls had started to molt as they were a year old in march and havnt molted yet, my third hen was ill and that made her molt early.
tonight i put them to bed and when running my hands over them as usual feeling quickly for any problems , i felt skin! on closer inspection my two girls have bald butts and i think their tummys feel slighty swollen!
i thought maybe mites of some sort? and theyve plucked the area due to itching? i cant see any mites.
any idea what could be going on? or what i should do? ive got DE shall i put some in the coop? or do i need something else to treat mites, sholud i treat fo mites if i cant see any? im worried this is something bad! they get on well and i havnt seen any pecking going on,
any advise is very welcome, im so worried.

You'd do better with Sevin garden dust. DE will help in the dusting box, but if they have them, it won't get rid of them and is a waste of time. Can you get Sevin dust?

 

[Haunted55]

If you can't, are you able to get some wood ash. Like from a fireplace or stove? No where near as good as the Sevin dust but will help in a pinch.

 

[shell3]

thank you for the tip but i think i have something worse! i watched the chickens for ages from an upstairs window and then i caught her at it!! one of my girls is plucking the other two!! im horrified! why would she start doing that? they have a peck block hanging up in the run and a hanging basket that i fill with veges or chicken treat balls. they have layers pellets 24/7 so never hungry and that should have plenty of protein, i have made them all a mash of pellets mixed with suet pellets and food supliments with added protein that i got when she was ill and molting. and ive seperated her from the other two into a smaller run, they can see each other but not touch. i made a trip to the store and got some 'peck stop' spray, ive sprayed the girls with it now , it says it tastes yuk to stop them doing it and also has soothing properties and antiseptic to heal the area quickly. i let the picker back out and watched but it hasnt stopped her shes still doing it!! so now shes back on her own in the smaller run! ive sprayed more on as maybe i hadnt used enough?! but any other advice is so welcome, im thinking maybe protein? so ill supplement the food for a while,would feeding the egg shells back help? they have oyster shell already. how about scrambled egg?
anything im missing please let me know.
thank you so much , im so upset

 

[cafarmgirl]

Sometimes there's no telling why one will start up with that, sometimes it just happens. How large an area do you have them in? They certainly sound like they are plenty well fed. You can try just keeping her separate for a few weeks and see if she gets over it. Once picking becomes a habit it can be hard to break, sometimes you can't. The worry is that she will move on to doing actual damage and harm to the others hens rather then just picking feathers.

 

[Haunted55]

there's a few things that cause feather picking that I know of, protein levels wrong, boredom, and sometimes just plain meaness. At the pet store check in the dog section and see if they have a spray with Bitter Apple as one of the ingredients. This works. You could still try the wood ash because it doesn't tate very good either. something i have done when I was at my wits end, is give mine a teaspoon of fish based canned food. No chicken, beef, lamb, nothing but fish. Or you could try sardines, if you can find them packed in water with no salt added. 1 fish shared by all, per day for 3-5 days.

You may want to think about changing their feed as well. Sometimes the feed companies don't get things quite right and it may be that the feed isn't as it should be. Switch to a different brand for a while if you're able.

Finally, if all else fails....sit and watch them with a spray bottle of water in your hand. When you see the problem child going after the other, let her have it with the water. Chickens can be a bit slow and this may take a few times but even they will learn it's not a good thing to do.

 

[casportpony]

I just read that giardia will cause them to "self" feather pick, but I don't remember where I read that.

Here's something from: http://www.featherpicking.com/Vet_Tests.htm

 

[Haunted55]

I just read that giardia will cause them to feather pick, but I don't remember where I read that.

Makes sense as giardia messes with the guts so that protein couldn't be absorbed properly. Jut like any kind of parasitic infestation of the gut it pretty much liquifies the lining making it almost impossible to take anything in. The water sorce if not the ame as the human water supply would have to be checked. Still, I'd say it's more likely the feed.

 

[casportpony]

Doh, I just re-read, they aren't plucking their own feathers out! Sorry, I should pay better attention to details.

 

[shell3]

Thanks guys
well i have her seperated from the other two, shes in a little coop and run which dosnt give her loads of space but i have no choice for now. i will look for a bitter apple spray, my pet store only had the 'peck stop' spray, it stinks but i still saw her take a feather from under one of my poor girls even with the spray! today i have made her a huge bowl of mashed pellets with mixed in amino +, its a protein supplement and the bottle says for molts,feather picking and times of stress, so ill give that for a few days before i risk letting her out with the others. i also added some food suplement just to cover all bases. i'll have to drive a couple of towns over to look for the apple spray as theres a horse and farm supply store there. im going to look in there for a different food too. i realised last night that i normally give them all a handful of mealworms each day to share but i ran out and havnt given those for a week now, i wonder if this could have started this? mealworms are protein arnt they. so? any way ill go pick some up today.
it was so sad locking her into the little coop all alone last night she made the saddest little noise! argh shes breaking my heart here!
i see some familar names posting here for anyone that remembers my thread on my poor 'Bombie' im sad to tell you that she is the feather picker!!!
as for the size of the coop and run, im not sure i tried to upload pics but it wont let me, ill try later .