Chicken balding all over

Katy L

In the Brooder
Oct 30, 2020
13
38
41
Hi, I am still a newbie to chickens and this chicken has been just not right on and off. In desperately need some wisdom. She has had a bald patch on her back towards her tail for a while now. I took a pic to the guy at rural king that seems very knowledgeable. He seemed to think nothing of it and said it looked like it was healing well. Which I has healed well and is growing some feathers back but not all. This has been maintaining for a while but tonight I noticed she is really balding all over the place and I don’t know what the heck is going on. I will post pics. The girls have 3 sqft per bird in the coop (maybe a tad more) but the run is probably undersized after some more research. I some of the other birds are also getting bald spots in the exact same location as her first one and now I’m really worried. The ones that don’t have a clear bald spot, have some ruffled looking feathers in the general area. I will post pics of all of this to help. Some birds look perfect and no issues at all. The one chicken with the most balding all over had a watery poop tonight that I happened to catch and I also caught one of the pristine hens pecking at one of the other hens bald spot on the lower back. But there are about 70000 possibilities of what this can be and I am really overwhelmed so any help would be so awesome! Thank you!!
Facts:
-12 hens
-Hot and humid Florida
-Free range at the end of the day for a couple hours every day.
-Layer crumble (not pellets)
-Ample water (but a new waterer… maybe she is struggling to get the water from the cups?)
-Recently moved to a larger coop due to previous coop being too small poop
-poop picture included and a weird spot on one hens beak. I’m perplexed but trying to include everything.
 

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Hi! Welcome! I’ve been a chicken mom for over years. It’s joyful and rewarding, but takes some troubleshooting for sure! :)
Thoughts:
- If it’s hot, humid in your area then your chickens will drink more water and produce more watery poos. That’s normal. White mixed in w/brown poop is normal too, that’s the ‘urea’ because chickens don’t produce urine. They do have kidneys but their ‘pee’ comes out with poop and that’s the white stuff.
-when chickens get stressed they might begin to molt or drop feathers. If you see sharp little nubs popping up through the skin thus us good. Those are new feathers called ‘pin feathers’ because the ends are sharp like pins as they punch thru skin and eventually unfurl into beautiful new feathers.
-red, raw areas could be a sign of irritation. I use Vetricyn antiseptic spray and ‘hen healer’ blue cream or AD ointment on raw areas in tiny amounts as needed. Never apply anything that’s not veterinary approved on the chickens because they might eat it while preening.
-molting is normal. the first major molt happens when they’re around 1 year to 18 months old and can be shocking! my hens always go quite bald in patches and then grow nice new feathers. Molt can start anytime from July-Oct and end by winter season. Depends on your environment and the breed of chickens you keep. Some breeds are quick and entire molt could be 3-4 weeks, but some breeds like Cochins are slow feathering and take 6-8 week start to finish, give or take. Hens will stop laying during molt because they need extra protein and energy to regrow their new feathers.
-I use dried meal worm treats as a good extra protein source. And fresh greens like kale, arugula for vitamins. Also use crushed oyster shells as calcium supplement.
-chickens like to dust bath in dirt, sand, mulch, etc and that’s good for their feathers. If they get caked wet dirt lodged in nostrils of beak you can gently flick this out with a dull wooden toothpick or even a rough moist wash rag if you feel dirt is too impacted. Usually the hens scratch it off their beaks themselves eventually and you don’t need to do anything.
Enjoy your flock and best of luck to you! :)
 
Hi! Welcome! I’ve been a chicken mom for over years. It’s joyful and rewarding, but takes some troubleshooting for sure! :)
Thoughts:
- If it’s hot, humid in your area then your chickens will drink more water and produce more watery poos. That’s normal. White mixed in w/brown poop is normal too, that’s the ‘urea’ because chickens don’t produce urine. They do have kidneys but their ‘pee’ comes out with poop and that’s the white stuff.
-when chickens get stressed they might begin to molt or drop feathers. If you see sharp little nubs popping up through the skin thus us good. Those are new feathers called ‘pin feathers’ because the ends are sharp like pins as they punch thru skin and eventually unfurl into beautiful new feathers.
-red, raw areas could be a sign of irritation. I use Vetricyn antiseptic spray and ‘hen healer’ blue cream or AD ointment on raw areas in tiny amounts as needed. Never apply anything that’s not veterinary approved on the chickens because they might eat it while preening.
-molting is normal. the first major molt happens when they’re around 1 year to 18 months old and can be shocking! my hens always go quite bald in patches and then grow nice new feathers. Molt can start anytime from July-Oct and end by winter season. Depends on your environment and the breed of chickens you keep. Some breeds are quick and entire molt could be 3-4 weeks, but some breeds like Cochins are slow feathering and take 6-8 week start to finish, give or take. Hens will stop laying during molt because they need extra protein and energy to regrow their new feathers.
-I use dried meal worm treats as a good extra protein source. And fresh greens like kale, arugula for vitamins. Also use crushed oyster shells as calcium supplement.
-chickens like to dust bath in dirt, sand, mulch, etc and that’s good for their feathers. If they get caked wet dirt lodged in nostrils of beak you can gently flick this out with a dull wooden toothpick or even a rough moist wash rag if you feel dirt is too impacted. Usually the hens scratch it off their beaks themselves eventually and you don’t need to do anything.
Enjoy your flock and best of luck to you! :)
Thank you SO MUCH for this!! This was so helpful! I was most worried about parasites or mites and the feather loss,
 
Hellloo does anyone have any input on this babies back? Got her at 2 weeks old and she was in a bin with older girls so I thought pecking but its been a month and she's still bald. Don't see no bugs or anything and give her a sand ash DE bath at least once a week. She's my fav cause she's such a mamas girl 😔
 

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