Chickens losing feathers on underside and by vent. Need HELP

[Newmans Farm]

Hi there, a few of our girls have started losing feathers on their underside and by their vents. We've had chickens for about 7 years now, this is our 2nd flock but we haven't had this issue. This is definitely not molting or broodiness. One of our girls (Rosie) appears to be very red on her underside (where she lost her feathers). She still seems to be acting normal (laying, etc) but there is clearly an issue. See photos. We keep a relatively clean coop to begin with, but I have since completely cleaned both the inside and outside of the coop. I sprayed diatomaceous earth all over the coop, both inside and out for mites. We haven't been unable to find any mites when we looked, but possibly we are missing something.

We also gave her a spritz with Pure Planet Poultry Spray.

We could really use some advice, we are getting a bit concerned since we can't seem to figure this one out. Two more of our girls are losing their feathers now as well. We purchased Epsom salts which I heard may be good to give her a bath in. Thoughts?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

 

[Eggcessive]

From the red bottoms and broken feathers, it looks like they are pecking each other’s feathers. What are you feeding? How much room do they have and how many chickens? Do they go outside to free range? Sometimes increasing the protein in the diet to 20% can help. Make sure they have at least 4 square feet of room per hen in the coop, and much more in the run. Feather picking can be contagious. Pinless peepers can be used on bullies if you can identify the picker.

 

[Newmans Farm]

Hi there, thanks for the response. The run area of our coop is approximately 45 sf and we only have 6 hens (3 are bantams and one is also fairly small, the other two are full size). We do let them free range for about an hour or two a day when we are around.

The food we are giving them says it's 17% protein. What would you recommend to get up to 20%? Any good ideas for additional protein?

Anything else we may be missing? We've never witnessed her or the other 2 hens get pecked but I guess I can't rule it out. Her skin does appear to be quite red.

Any recommendations on how to help soothe her skin?

 

[Eggcessive]

Nustock cream is good to use on the red skin. It is found at many feed stores in the horse supplies. It tastes bad to the chickens and is healing, antibacterial, antifungal. I use 20% Flock Raiser feed and put out crushed oyster shell for the extra calcium. I would spend some time with them to see what they are doing. On the roost in the evening is a good time to observe them, to make sure they cannot reach each others’ vent area. Check out some threads about pinless peepers. Only the one pecking needs to wear them, and they prevent them from seeing right in front of their beaks.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Hi there, a few of our girls have started losing feathers on their underside and by their vents. We've had chickens for about 7 years now, this is our 2nd flock but we haven't had this issue. This is definitely not molting or broodiness. One of our girls (Rosie) appears to be very red on her underside (where she lost her feathers). She still seems to be acting normal (laying, etc) but there is clearly an issue. See photos. We keep a relatively clean coop to begin with, but I have since completely cleaned both the inside and outside of the coop. I sprayed diatomaceous earth all over the coop, both inside and out for mites. We haven't been unable to find any mites when we looked, but possibly we are missing something.

We also gave her a spritz with Pure Planet Poultry Spray.

We could really use some advice, we are getting a bit concerned since we can't seem to figure this one out. Two more of our girls are losing their feathers now as well. We purchased Epsom salts which I heard may be good to give her a bath in. Thoughts?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

We’ve been struggling with the same thing! In our case, it’s been happening for several months. I did sit and watch and did see one duck pecking at chicken bottoms at the feeder, and then one dominant hen plucking at a few of the bare bottoms. So I decided it was feather picking and separated the worst off, six 10 mo pullets from the same clutch. They’ve been separated for several weeks and still look rough. I’ve sat and watched them and have not observed feather picking. What’s weird is that several look more like diffuse sunburn or chemical burn than like picking. Some have pin feathers growing and those are undisturbed. I bought pinless peepers but hate to use them, especially if they are reacting to something. Two possibilities are the betadine mixed with blue dye that I applied two weeks ago (did not help), and the rough Cedar mulch that was just placed in the separated run area where the bare bottom girls are kept. This is rough (like small sticks) cedar mulch that’s been ages for almost 2 years and I’ve been using for awhile, because we have tons (literally) of it. Maybe they are reacting to it because they sit on it with no feather barrier? I just applied rooster booster pick no more to these girls, plus two of our most dominant hens in the main group that have small bare areas. The majority of our hens don’t have bare bottoms; it’s odd!

 

[Newmans Farm]

Hi there, thanks for everyones comments. I'm starting to think this may be one of the girls pecking the others. We have 3 that are losing feathers and 3 that seem fine. Two of the three feather girls are bantam silkies and I don't think they can reach but then we have one lavender orpington (who actually photo bombed the photo of the chicken with the most feathers missing. I'm thinking this is a protein deficiency. I never considered the chickens pecking each other but I realized earlier today that I haven't seen any feathers in the coop so someone must be eating them. I give them expensive organic feed that is 17% protein but maybe it's not enough.

Therefore, I'm going to start supplementing protein (cooked eggs, meal worms, etc.) and have ordered 20% protein feed and we'll see what happens. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Thanks for the help

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Hi there, thanks for everyones comments. I'm starting to think this may be one of the girls pecking the others. We have 3 that are losing feathers and 3 that seem fine. Two of the three feather girls are bantam silkies and I don't think they can reach but then we have one lavender orpington (who actually photo bombed the photo of the chicken with the most feathers missing. I'm thinking this is a protein deficiency. I never considered the chickens pecking each other but I realized earlier today that I haven't seen any feathers in the coop so someone must be eating them. I give them expensive organic feed that is 17% protein but maybe it's not enough.

Therefore, I'm going to start supplementing protein (cooked eggs, meal worms, etc.) and have ordered 20% protein feed and we'll see what happens. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Thanks for the help

Since we are dealing with a similar problem, I’d love to hear about it if you find a solution!

 

[Newmans Farm]

Sounds good, I’ll keep you posted. I just set up a baby camera in the coop and we are watching them on the roost. I haven’t seen a peck yet but I noticed the bare bottomed girl forced her way next to the chicken in question and they are facing opposite directions so her butt is right in front of the suspect’s beak.

I’m going into full detective mode to solve this case. I gave them some cooked eggs before they went in for the night so maybe the extra protein is already helping.

 

[Newmans Farm]

The victim is the darker one in the middle left and the suspect is the grey one in the middle right