Chickens going bald

[melalthia]

So i have a coop of 10 girls and no roosters. They are about a year and half old. In the fall, my 3 brown leghorns started getting patchy at their tail feathers. I did research on BYC and it seemed like a feather picking and moulting problem. I got some saddles for them and decided to ride it out. Well, it's the end of april and i took off the saddles today to get a good look. It doesn't seem to be getting better. In fact, it's worse!

My next question is... is this mites? I have never dusted my girls with DE or seven or the coop but i change the bedding every 6 months. I checked the feet and there doesn't appear to be any roll up on the scales. I couldn't find any evidence of lice eggs at the base of the feather shafts. Here are the legs. How do they look?

So i'm at a loss. I couldn't find any evidence of little mites on the girls tho admittedly... i haven't looked at them at night. (I'm going to do that tonight.The leghorn egg production has widdled down to one egg a week, each... and they've always been skinny. I'm starting to get really worried because my favorite easter egger is starting to show evidence of it effecting her. But with her.. the top of her head is going bald with patches of redness.

Any ideas for this newbie would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[ArizonaNessa]

The feet look good. May I ask what you are feeding them?

Molting is not a problem. It is something that chickens do. I would do a good dusting on everything no matter how clean you keep things. Chickens need protein for feather growth hence the reason I asked about feed.

 

[chiswil]

Have the same problem and really searching for a solution. Will follow what you find out and will share anything I find with you. I really believe it is something missing in their diet.

Bill

 

[mrbstephens]

maybe feather picking. Mine do it too. It's a habit they can develop and once they start, they rarely stop. One of my hens has a pretty bald behind because of it.

 

[chiswil]

Hate to here they will not stop. I am going to look into feed as 6 of my 8 hens have the problem and until today I have never seen them picking on each other. Today I saw two get on another much like roosters. None of mine have any bleeding . Also going to give the girls more time out in the yard in the afternoon however they have a large pen !6' x '8 plus a large coop 8'x4'.

Bill:/

 

[flytpm]

Having the same problem with my 7 hens and no rooster. Haven't seen any pecking. I treated for possible mites,wormed them and started giving them extra protein, sunflower hearts, in addition to their 16% layer pellets, yogurt, grit and green veggies and almost doubled size of their run from 10x6 to 17x6. I'm hoping one of these works cause I don't know what else to try.

 

[chiswil]

Sounds like we are on the same program--hope it works Have you used diatomaceous earth in their food or mixed with wood ashes in there dusting area.

Bill

 

[melalthia]

Quote:
Modesto Mills Organic lay pellets

Here's the breakdown:
Guaranteed Analysis: Crude Protein min 17%, Crude Fat min 4.5%, Crude Fiber max 4.1%, Ash max 16.0%

A Handful of scratch for the run a day. Plus free feeding oyster shell.
We also feed our vegetable scraps, and they usually get cereal and Keefer and/or milk scraps when my kids don't finish their breakfast.

Every couple of weeks we let them out of the run to free range but now that we have seedlings in our veggie garden, i don't think they'll be coming out any time soon.


What do you think? Too little protein in those pellets? The pellets are hanging in their coop... and part of me has been wanting to get an extra feeder to hang in their run so they have more opportunities for access. I keep wondering if they aren't eating enough of the pellets because they spend most of their day in the run.

And btw, its 11:30pm pst where i am and I checked them. I didn't see a single mite crawling on them. So i'm really at a loss now. This has been going on since September!

 

[melalthia]

Quote:
No, the DE (food grade) is my next plan of attack. With serious mite outbreaks i've seen people talk about using some called Seven (sevin?) which is some kind of poultry dusting for mites. But i was just in the coop with a flashlight and i didn't see anything on the girls. Lice, mite or otherwise. Its so frustrating! If it was one particular individual going after the girls and feather picking, i could isolate her but I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary. I do think it's suspicious that it's only one breed that seems to be suffering from this. Only one other (an EE) seems to be having he same symptoms but other than that, it's only my leghorns.

 

[ArizonaNessa]

The protein in that feed seems just fine. I dust my girls regardless. It's just a routine thing with me. I only use Sevin dust 5% if there is an issue which I rarely have. All the rest of the time I use food grade DE and that is usually enough. Sevin5% is not designed for poultry but it is safe to use with them. If you choose the Sevin make sure it's powder and not granules. If it bothers you as it did me in the beginning then just look for a blue and white can called Garden and Poultry Dust that you can buy at just about any feed store. This is what the can looks like so you know what you are looking for http://www.petvetsupply.com/insmlov003.html Frankly I think it's the same thing in a different package.

I wish I had something more to add. Chickens will peck each other if in too small of an area or if they need more protein but it sounds like you are doing everything right. Sometimes chickens can go through a really hard molt and it will leave them pretty rough looking for quite a while but again your dates seem like it's been long enough. Roosters will strip the hens backs but you have none. I am so sorry I am just at a loss.