Bare back & no eggs

[heybarb]

I have a buff orpington hen that's about a year old. She lost the feathers on her back about 3 months ago (end of March) and I assumed it was because she was our rooster's favorite girl. We have since gotten rid of him because he really wasn't very nice, but her feathers are not growing back! She's always been a good layer, but she started laying much less often (like 3 eggs a week) in mid April, and stopped laying in mid-May. I'm not sure what to do for her, but she looks awful (although the other girls leave her alone and don't peck at her) and her personality has turned mean...pecking at everyone else - even me!

Is she molting? I know that her feathers will eventually grow back, but is there anything else I can do to speed her up - and to help her start laying again?

 

[Judy]

You might want to put a saddle on her just to prevent sunburn, til the feathers regrow. If she is molting. you should see feather loss beginning at the head/neck area and progressing down. She's at about the age for a molt, plus a molt can be kicked off by increased stress. Being overmated then suddenly losing a flock mate might be enough. Some molts cause a while lot more feather loss than others; it can be tricky to tell sometimes. If it's very hot where you are, this could also be adding to stress, or even cause her to at least slow down her egg laying.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/patterns-chicken-saddles

 

[heybarb]

Thanks! I made her a chicken saddle and OH BOY did she freak out!! She ran crazy around the yard, then dashed under a bush to hide. The minute she started to move again, she's panic and run around again. It was very painful to watch! I tried putting it on her at night, but we had the same results!

I think the part that worries me most is that she looks so bad and I see her sitting in the nest box - like right now, but she hasn't laid an egg in over a month, except for maybe one very small egg which may have been hers. She is missing some feathers on the back of her head/neck, but I also attributed that to the rooster. I did buy Blue Kote to protect her back, but that freaked her out too, so I haven't reapplied it...