does anyone have any ideas?

[thebrushbarn]

I have a 3 year old Rhode Island Red hen. She has always been healthy and a good layer.

Recently she has started to lose her feathers on both sides of her wings, her chest, and her saddle area. She still acts fine. She still eats, drinks, and lays well. she is in with 7 other hens in quite a big run with daily free range time as well.

We have tried putting pic-no-more on her with no results. We have also treated her and the pen and hutch for mites. None of the other hens in her pen have this problem,

We change the bedding weekly, as well as cleaning the pen weekly. We change her water 2 times a day and she has access to new, clean food daily.

We have not noticed any pecking from other hens, but have not ruled that out as we don't watch them constantly.

She has been this way for 2-3 months now and we don't know what else to try.


Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? We love her and would love to help her get better.

Thanks in advance for any response!!

(you can click on photos to enlarge)




wing wing head tail / saddle area neck

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Welcome to BYC!

You don't have a rooster?

Do you ever see her dust bathing?
What did you use for treatment of mites/lice?
What type of foods/treats do you feed?

It could be picking by other chickens, also could be depluming mite which are microscopic and cannot be seen by the naked eye.
I see broken feathers, so I would suspect pecking first.

Feather Mites and poultry parasites:
https://chickenwired.wordpress.com/2014/09/21/parasites-of-poultry/

Mites/Lice:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/08/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification.html

 

[thebrushbarn]

Thank you for the response and the links. I will check into to those.

We do have roosters but they are not in with these chickens. They are pullets and are in a separate run.

We see all of them dust bath pretty regularly. We used a poultry spray called "all-natural poultry protector"

We feed them country companion layer crumble.

I suspect pecking too as non of the other chickens she is penned with have any of the symptoms. We will start watching her more often to see if we can catch any pecking in action!

Thank You!

Hopefully we will figure it out

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you for the response and the links. I will check into to those.

We do have roosters but they are not in with these chickens. They are pullets and are in a separate run.

We see all of them dust bath pretty regularly. We used a poultry spray called "all-natural poultry protector"

We feed them country companion layer crumble.

I suspect pecking too as non of the other chickens she is penned with have any of the symptoms. We will start watching her more often to see if we can catch any pecking in action!

Thank You!

Hopefully we will figure it out

I am leaning toward pecking. Sometimes you may not see the activity during the day, sometimes more pecking happens at night, but the feather loss is symmetrical as well, so you may want to observe her to see if she is picking her own feathers out and possibly eating them. Another possibility would be molting.
You may want to consider upping her protein intake this can help if she is molting or eating feathers - eggs, tuna, mackerel, meat.

 

[thebrushbarn]

Wow! ok. I have not heard of the "eating their own feathers!". Crazy!
That is something we didn't know. So we will watch for that as well.

I will give her extra protein and see if that makes a difference.

Do you have a suggestions for what to do if it is pecking? Does putting anything on it help?

Thank you, by the way, for your help!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Wow! ok. I have not heard of the "eating their own feathers!". Crazy!
That is something we didn't know. So we will watch for that as well.

I will give her extra protein and see if that makes a difference.

Do you have a suggestions for what to do if it is pecking? Does putting anything on it help?

Thank you, by the way, for your help!

You can try some "pick no more" which can be found at the feed store or online.
Sometimes a chicken can pluck their own feathers and eat them if they are in need of extra protein. Not saying this is what's going on, but extra protein won't hurt, so it's worth a try.

 

[Chickensfan]

hmm...molting? i have never heard of a chicken that molts at 3 years though....can you see any bugs on her? (make sure to check her vent area.)

 

[Wyorp Rock]

hmm...molting? i have never heard of a chicken that molts at 3 years though....can you see any bugs on her? (make sure to check her vent area.)

Chickens molt once a year regardless of age, usually in the fall, but it can be anytime of the year.

 

[Cluckcluck1215]

Yes,any time of the year.my 7 year old is molting right now and it's only August.

 

[Chickensfan]

Chickens molt once a year regardless of age, usually in the fall, but it can be anytime of the year.

oops! thought they only molted once.