Bare Butt Birds

[spradicus]

Hello we have nine hens; 4 Bramas and 5 Plymouth Rocks. They are all just over one year old. Last fall the Plymouth started losing feathers on their butts. My wife and I thought they were molting. Fall turned into winter and winter has now turned to Spring. The feather situation on the Plymouth seemed to get a little bit worse in winter. But over the last several weeks it seems to be much worse. It's no longer just their butts but their sides and it's creeping under their wings. We have examined the chickens for mites or lice and there's none visible to the naked eye. We've wiped their roosting bars at night and no signs of red marks. It does not appear to really be affecting the bramas. The grey ladies are the Plymouths and the white and black are the bramas. My wife made an aloe sulfur herb paste and applied. I think that made it worse. Although I think that's because the hens pecked their own feathers because the paste was bothering them. Our guess is depluming mites but not sure how to treat. Any ideas?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Welcome To BYC

Perhaps it's depluming mites, but it's hard for a hen to reach and pick the feathers from her own bum as precise as in those photos.
You likely have some feather picking going on, especially since the Brahmas are not affected.

How much space do you have in your coop/run (sq ft of each)? Feather picking can become chronic problem. Pinless Peepers is one solution. Having plenty of space can help as well. Sometimes a change in diet - cutting out extra fillers like scratch and giving a higher protein feed (18-20%) can also help.

You are correct. Ivermectin is what you want to use for Depluming Mites. It may be worth treating just to see if there's improvement.
Feathers that have been broken or rubbed off, that look spindly or if there's an intact feather shaft in the skin will not be replaced until the hen(s) molt, but you may see some new growth (pin feathers) come in too.
Watch to see if pin feathers begin and then they disappear - those are supposed to be tasty, so if they disappear, you have a hen or multiple hens plucking those out and eating them.

Dosing for Ivermectin (both Injectable and Pour On) can be found here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/mites-lice-now-hen-growling.1242981/post-19965544

 

[Bananabread]

looks like they may have a hernia which is similar to what happened with some of my hens. At first I thought it was eggbound but the hen was completely normal, continued to lay eggs and was otherwise fine. And then another hen had it. They would lose all of their feathers in the same distribution around the protuberant area.

 

[MrsEarthern]

I have a backyard mix, Lavender, who looks similar to your BRs, she was supposed to be an Australorp-Orpington cross but anyway, she was the only bird with it. The four roosters never had a problem and seven other hens were fine for over a year. I suspected a ratty feather gene, and then suddenly she had pin feathers and all her feathers grew out.

 

[spradicus]

Welcome To BYC

Perhaps it's depluming mites, but it's hard for a hen to reach and pick the feathers from her own bum as precise as in those photos.
You likely have some feather picking going on, especially since the Brahmas are not affected.

How much space do you have in your coop/run (sq ft of each)? Feather picking can become chronic problem. Pinless Peepers is one solution. Having plenty of space can help as well. Sometimes a change in diet - cutting out extra fillers like scratch and giving a higher protein feed (18-20%) can also help.

You are correct. Ivermectin is what you want to use for Depluming Mites. It may be worth treating just to see if there's improvement.
Feathers that have been broken or rubbed off, that look spindly or if there's an intact feather shaft in the skin will not be replaced until the hen(s) molt, but you may see some new growth (pin feathers) come in too.
Watch to see if pin feathers begin and then they disappear - those are supposed to be tasty, so if they disappear, you have a hen or multiple hens plucking those out and eating them.

Dosing for Ivermectin (both Injectable and Pour On) can be found here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/mites-lice-now-hen-growling.1242981/post-19965544

Thank you so much for your detailed and thorough response. Our coop is 10'x9' (a shed) and the run is 21'x10'. They don't get much free grazing time as we back up to the woods and fox, coyote, and hawks are a real threat. We lost one hen a few weeks ago when I was 50' away and a fox snuck up and snatched one.

We got all of the chickens as chicks last march so they are all 15 months old. Aside from the feather missing on their butts I'm not even sure the molted in the fall. They appear to be acting normal. I can distinctly feel the keel bone on a few. Their egg laying is normal (7 to 9 eggs a day). Late last summer we did have a pecking problem that resulted in summer feather loss around the vent but they bled, both breds were being pecked but mostly the bramas were bleeding. My wife sprayed some purple antiseptic spray and that seemed to solve the problem. With these bald but I don't see any bleeding.

After my wife and I applied the aloe/sulfur paste (really more like a gel) 3 days ago, all of the hens appeared much worse in terms of missing feathers. We started to apply it again yesterday but after applying it to two and watching them pull out their own feathers we stopped.

At this point we may take them (or one) to a vet. If we applied ivermectin I don't know what improvement would even look like. I'm afraid they won't grow feather till the fall? Do you know of any home test to check for the depluming mites? I looked around the run yesterday for grey feathers but all I could find white feathers. I was going to cut a quill open with a razor blade and take a look under a microscope.

thanks again for your response

 

[Wyorp Rock]

After my wife and I applied the aloe/sulfur paste (really more like a gel) 3 days ago, all of the hens appeared much worse in terms of missing feathers. We started to apply it again yesterday but after applying it to two and watching them pull out their own feathers we stopped.

I agree, I would have stopped the paste too, sounds like it may have been irritating them.

I don't know of a home test for depluming mites. Since you have a microscope, you may be able to see something in the quills.