- May 20, 2013
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I have a flock of 8. They have plenty of room and are not overcrowded. They have a big ol yard to graze in. Their coop is under construction and it's very messy right now, in terms of poop and wetness.
Last October our chickens started to lose feathers on their backs. It happened very slowly. For the first three months I thought they were only pecking at each other. Then a friend came over and said our chickens have mites. I did some research, bought DE and sprinkled it on the birds twice a week. I've been checking their feathers, but I don't see any signs of mites or lice. I can't see any bugs on these birds.
Their feathers are disappearing very slowly. It's taken months for these patches to appear, but I just can't get rid of them.
The DE hasn't been working, so I bought really high grade mite/lice medicine for poultry two weeks ago. I've been giving them the good stuff for two weeks, but there's been little to no change. I cleaned the coop, changed all the bedding, sprayed down their nesting boxes, etc. It doesn't seem to be helping. In fact, in the past couple weeks they started developing scabs on their backs where the feathers have fallen out. The skin used to look normal, but recently it's become red and irritated.
Please help, I don't know what's causing this. I'm starting to doubt if it's lice/mites.
This is the only chicken that lost feathers on her chest. The others look like this, but on their backs. Her skin started looking raw this week.
You can see she's got feathers missing from her shoulder and back.
This is the only one with feathers missing from her head! Her skin is always raw and red.
More feathers missing from the back.
Another view of her chest.
Last October our chickens started to lose feathers on their backs. It happened very slowly. For the first three months I thought they were only pecking at each other. Then a friend came over and said our chickens have mites. I did some research, bought DE and sprinkled it on the birds twice a week. I've been checking their feathers, but I don't see any signs of mites or lice. I can't see any bugs on these birds.
Their feathers are disappearing very slowly. It's taken months for these patches to appear, but I just can't get rid of them.
The DE hasn't been working, so I bought really high grade mite/lice medicine for poultry two weeks ago. I've been giving them the good stuff for two weeks, but there's been little to no change. I cleaned the coop, changed all the bedding, sprayed down their nesting boxes, etc. It doesn't seem to be helping. In fact, in the past couple weeks they started developing scabs on their backs where the feathers have fallen out. The skin used to look normal, but recently it's become red and irritated.
Please help, I don't know what's causing this. I'm starting to doubt if it's lice/mites.
This is the only chicken that lost feathers on her chest. The others look like this, but on their backs. Her skin started looking raw this week.
You can see she's got feathers missing from her shoulder and back.
This is the only one with feathers missing from her head! Her skin is always raw and red.
More feathers missing from the back.
Another view of her chest.
