broken feathers

[Lynnk]

Hi, I'm new here and glad to have found this forum. I have 7 hens. I had 3, one was killed by an eagle and then a lady offered me 5 she couldn't keep.
One of my original hens who was very tame and would squat when we came near so we could pick her up...is now covered in broken feathers. She doesn't want to be picked up anymore and runs from us. The broken feathers are down her back, on her sides, legs...
I'm new to chickens and not sure if the others are doing this to her (I haven't seen it happening) or if she is doing it to herself. I assume when they molt, that the feather would come right out? or would it break like this?
Please help we love her.
LynnK

 

[speckledhen]

The feathers come out AND break off in a molt. I have girls covered in broken feathers. The feathers age and become brittle as they begin to molt, so sounds like what it could be.

 

[azelgin]

Ok, I found this thread while doing a search for broken feathers. Here is what I have:

I have a 10 month old pullet that has all of the tips of her feathers broken off, so, all that is left is downy under parts. Almost all her feathers end in a fork, giving her the appearance on a giant downy chick. Her feathers are so thick, it's hard to spread them apart to see her skin. I have looked and looked to find any signs of lice, or, bugs and she comes up clean. None of the others that have molted before her looked anything like this. She is eating, pooping and layed an egg this morning. Perfectly normal, except for the crazy feathers.

Here are a couple of pictures of her now and when she first feathered in:

Is this her molting, or, something else?

 

[Coldweatherbirds]

No one ever replied to this old post, but that hen looks just like my 10 month-old rooster does. His feathers are all breaking off right at the downy area, and is getting thin too. What is going on?

 

[Super Chickenman]

I too have have some chickens with feather issues. It almost looks like parts of the feather has been eaten or broken off. We picked her up to see if she had mites or lice and found that there were areas that had NO feathers at all.
Alongside the breast was one. This is the second chicken I have had with this issue. They look kinda raggedy. I dusted for mites anyway, but I dont think this is the issue.

Any suggestions anyone?

 

[Coldweatherbirds]

LoL, nobody cares about our pathetic balding birdies!

 

[iluvmichickens]

I wish someone would respond to this also. I have two chickens that are under a year and their feathers are broken around the neck area and tail. Hummmm...

 

[canyoncito]

I know this post is really old, but I just read it today. It sounds like mites or lice. I typed in "broken feathers" on Google, read a whole bunch of stuff, and that is my conclusion. So I am off to buy permetherin and diatomaceous earth. Good luck everyone.

 

[kammel7]

I know this post is old but it seemed like the place to post my chicken feather problems. I had 5 hens that were fine until early this year. One got eaten by a hawk in Feb. Shortly after, the other four started looking like they were molting but then I noticed their feathers weren't falling out; they were broken or stripped. 1 hen looks better than the other 3. Could she be picking on the others? I've not seen any aggressive behavior. I've dusted with primethrin and used diatomaceous earth in case the cause was mites or lice. I've tried some vitamins in their water.
Here are some pics:

 

[canyoncito]

That looks like a chicken has been getting on top of another. I don't know why they do this, but I have one hen who does it to another and then the feathers look stripped. It only takes a few moments and is easy to miss seeing it happen. Kind of looks like they're mating but I guess it is aggression.