Depluming mites and treating the RUN

[McChooky]

I'm down to 3 brown leghorns after starting with nine chicks.
A predator got one and 4 were re-homed for picking the feathers off their flock mates.Sometimes its a housing issue because certain breeds need more room.The leghorns I have now are very sweet hens.

Edit:
The feather peckers didn't peck the Sapphire Gem or the Australorp hens.They only pecked on their flock mates(same size and breed)

 

[Tracyree]

I'm down to 3 brown leghorns after starting with nine chicks.
A predator got one and 4 were re-homed for picking the feathers off their flock mates.Sometimes its a housing issue because certain breeds need more room.The leghorns I have now are very sweet hens.

Edit:
The feather peckers didn't peck the Sapphire Gem or the Australorp hens.They only pecked on their flock mates(same size and breed)

Ugh. Frustrating!!

I think they have plenty of space. 45 square feet per hen at the moment

 

[McChooky]

I separated my fully feathered leghorns with no broken feathers from the pitiful looking hens and found the culprits

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I would suspect feather picking since that is more common than feather mites. Feather picking is a learned habit that is hard to break and can take place while chickens are on the roost or just standing around. Boredom from not getting outside, too little protein or imbalance in the diet, too much light or heat in the coop, or not enough roost space can be possible causes. Some breeds are more aggressive as well. You could ask your vet or a friend with a microscope to look at feathers under a microscope for tiny mites. When feathers get pulled out, they may not come back in until the next yearly molt. Elector PSP is a good product to use on mites and lice. Ivermectin pour on (5 mg per ml) could also be used at a dosage of 0.1 ml for every 2 pounds of weight on the back of the neck over the spine once and again in 10 days. A thorough coop cleanout and spraying with the Elector PSP or permethrin would be helpful. Hopefully, you can get this figured out. If you see some blue feather shafts growing in after a molt, watch to see if they are pecked out. Reddened skin from irrtation or pecking can lead to more pecking.

I agree, it looks like picking to me.

Any chance you have rodents?

 

[Tracyree]

I agree, it looks like picking to me.

Any chance you have rodents?

No rodents. I have a Smart Coop camera that would
Alert me if it detected rodents