Depluming mites or first adult molt?

[SilverCreekChic]

Depluming mites or first adult molt? These girls are 17-18 months old, with exception to the Light Brahma who is 15 months old. Skin isn‘t red / no bare red spots. Our newer flock members’ feathers (6 months old) all look good.

 

[Aprillemon]

Have you noticed excessive preening/plucking out of their own feathers? That would definitely suggest mites. Also, do you have any roosters? They can cause feather damage like this during mating if you have any.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Depluming mites or first adult molt? These girls are 17-18 months old, with exception to the Light Brahma who is 15 months old. Skin isn‘t red / no bare red spots. Our newer flock members’ feathers (6 months old) all look good.

I see a lot of worn and broken feathers. Do you have a rooster or cockerel?
The feathers are nipped and plucked. Likely they are doing this to each other.

What do you feed, including treats?

So far, I see no new pin feathers coming in, but they are at the age, that likely they will molt sometime this fall/early winter.

I don't really see and lice/mites in the photos, you'll have to inspect through the feathers more closely for lice/crawling bugs. For mites, inspect at night in the dark. Run a paper towel along roosting bars to see if you get any red smears or bugs.

Depluming mites burrow under the feather shaft and feed on blood and the feather material. They are extremely stressful to the birds and the birds will be constantly picking and digging at their skin causing wounds. The feathers will be stripped out/off, not broken and nipped like you see in your photos.

 

[SilverCreekChic]

I see a lot of worn and broken feathers. Do you have a rooster or cockerel?
The feathers are nipped and plucked. Likely they are doing this to each other.

What do you feed, including treats?

So far, I see no new pin feathers coming in, but they are at the age, that likely they will molt sometime this fall/early winter.

I don't really see and lice/mites in the photos, you'll have to inspect through the feathers more closely for lice/crawling bugs. For mites, inspect at night in the dark. Run a paper towel along roosting bars to see if you get any red smears or bugs.

Depluming mites burrow under the feather shaft and feed on blood and the feather material. They are extremely stressful to the birds and the birds will be constantly picking and digging at their skin causing wounds. The feathers will be stripped out/off, not broken and nipped like you see in your photos.

I do have a few roosters. Though only one of them mates with these ladies; he is a Cochin. I have not noticed them excessively preening. I did notice new feathers on one of them, not pictured though. All of our six month old hens have zero feather issues, nor our alpha rooster who is as old as the girls I posted.

Do they pluck feathers at night if they have depluming mites? I haven’t seen any on the poop shelf below their roosts.

 

[SilverCreekChic]

I see a lot of worn and broken feathers. Do you have a rooster or cockerel?
The feathers are nipped and plucked. Likely they are doing this to each other.

What do you feed, including treats?

So far, I see no new pin feathers coming in, but they are at the age, that likely they will molt sometime this fall/early winter.

I don't really see and lice/mites in the photos, you'll have to inspect through the feathers more closely for lice/crawling bugs. For mites, inspect at night in the dark. Run a paper towel along roosting bars to see if you get any red smears or bugs.

Depluming mites burrow under the feather shaft and feed on blood and the feather material. They are extremely stressful to the birds and the birds will be constantly picking and digging at their skin causing wounds. The feathers will be stripped out/off, not broken and nipped like you see in your photos.

Yes, we do give minimal treats - scraps (fruits typically) and in addition to their pellet feed, they get flock conditioner, which is a complete scratch feed.

 

[SilverCreekChic]

j

Have you noticed excessive preening/plucking out of their own feathers? That would definitely suggest mites. Also, do you have any roosters? They can cause feather damage like this during mating if you have any.

No excessive preening. Yes, a Cochin rooster is their alpha. We have a couple others, but these ladies don’t allow them to mate with them nor does our head rooster lol.

 

[SilverCreekChic]

I see a lot of worn and broken feathers. Do you have a rooster or cockerel?
The feathers are nipped and plucked. Likely they are doing this to each other.

What do you feed, including treats?

So far, I see no new pin feathers coming in, but they are at the age, that likely they will molt sometime this fall/early winter.

I don't really see and lice/mites in the photos, you'll have to inspect through the feathers more closely for lice/crawling bugs. For mites, inspect at night in the dark. Run a paper towel along roosting bars to see if you get any red smears or bugs.

Depluming mites burrow under the feather shaft and feed on blood and the feather material. They are extremely stressful to the birds and the birds will be constantly picking and digging at their skin causing wounds. The feathers will be stripped out/off, not broken and nipped like you see in your photos.

The pin feathers I noticed on one of them.

 

[Fluffy_Butt_Hutt]

Is the red hen the rooster's favorite or at the bottom of the pecking order?

 

[Aprillemon]

My guess would be rooster damage from mating. That’s definitely what it looks like, especially since you haven’t noticed any skin irritation or excessive preening. That would also explain why the roosters and the younger chickens are not affected since the younger birds haven’t been mated with as often as the older ones.

 

[SilverCreekChic]

My guess would be rooster damage from mating. That’s definitely what it looks like, especially since you haven’t noticed any skin irritation or excessive preening. That would also explain why the roosters and the younger chickens are not affected since the younger birds haven’t been mated with as often as the older ones.

Ah yeah, that does make sense when explained like that! As he and the younger flock members all look great. Does this mean our rooster is too rough with them or is this just typical feather wear for ladies with a rooster in their flock? He has been such a good rooster in my mind, as he is protective of them fighting off a few predators, isn’t at all greedy when he finds food and treats, and has never gone after us.