Hi everyone, I noticed today that one of our layers has bald patches. They are on her rump, just above her tail feathers and on her crop. Her crop looks really swollen too. She is still laying good sized eggs, eating and pooing normally. In fact, she seems perfectly normal. Obviously something is not right, any ideas please?
It sounds like it could be from getting picked on by the others. They will generally go for the tail and chest and will peck all the feathers out. If it starts to bleed, then you need to remove her from the flock, otherwise they will go cannibal and peck her within an inch of life. I suggest putting blue kote on the bald spots, as this hides redness and stops the pecking. It might also be mites, so go ahead and dust your chickens and coop to be on the safe side. Hope I helped!