As I was going to see the chickens today I noticed something funny hanging between the legs of my hen. After I caught her I noticed that it was a ball of feathers and chicken poop. It fell off - belch. After a more careful inspection it looks like all the feathers have come of her rear end and she's plain bald there. From the gloppy mess that fell it looks like she may have diarrhea. I have another chicken with the same. I'm trying to think why this is happening and can only come to this one conclusion.....please tell me if I'm right. A couple of weeks ago my husband combined our chick pellets (we have some new pullets) with our layer pellet. We are getting to the bottom of the barrel where it may be a higher concentration of the chick feed (not mash but pellets so they look the same). Could this be the cause of the issue? We have also been getting really soft eggs. Not transparent but fragile and tough to crack because they just all fall apart when you do. If you think this is the cause - easy enough to make sure they get the right food. BUT....what do I do about their behinds? Do I just let it heal by itself? Do I have to cut away the down and feathers that are surrounding the sore spot? My poor girls.
Here's a picture of one. It was kind of hard to take since I was holding her with one hand and using my phone camera with the other. You can barely see the bald spot but underneath all these feathers it's quite big. Probably 3 inches diameter.
She's got a bunch of burrs stuck to her because they like to peruse my burr patch.
Here's a picture of one. It was kind of hard to take since I was holding her with one hand and using my phone camera with the other. You can barely see the bald spot but underneath all these feathers it's quite big. Probably 3 inches diameter.
She's got a bunch of burrs stuck to her because they like to peruse my burr patch.
