chickens sick, need diagnosing. Pic included

[mcharles13]

I have 10 chickens. 5 barred rock, 5 new hamps.

Lately they've started looking sickly with the feathers all short and matted looking in spots. Mostly at the base of the tail on the back and just behind their neck. Egg production has plummeted. I'm used to getting 5-8 a day. Now i'm lucky if i get one or 2. I thought that maybe they were cannibalizing their eggs but i don't know now that the weird patches have shown up.

Can anyone help?

Mike

 

[CMV]

If you had a roo I would say roo damage from sloppy mating technique. If you don't have a roo I would say feather picking, which I think is likely. I would do a bug check on them to be sure they don't have any mites or lice.

 

[jerseygirl1]

Yup, I think lice, I doubt they could all be molting at the same time

 

[mcharles13]

no roos. looks like it's time to break out the DE.

Thanks guys.

 

[CMV]

DE is useless on an already established infestation. Time to pull out the big guns... insecticide. That's why I'd check them first. It may be just feather picking.

 

[mcharles13]

Ok i have some Sevin dust that i can use. I'll check them out.

 

[M To The Maxx]

I agree with the above posts. Hopefully you will find the solution.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

When I had a Northern Fowl mite infestion, the feathers of my chickens really started looking unkempt and ragged. Kind of like they had stopped preening themselves.

I treated them and now they are free of problems. Don't forget to retreat if you treat!
http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html