EE losing feathers and is still laying?

[bad_coffee]

So I just got home from a few days away, and one of our three birds is missing feathers clear down her back and is a bit bloody.

We noticed her losing feathers sometime in March, and we thought it was just a molt. Chix just turned one year old on March 1st, so we thought it was regular yearly molt.

Then today I came home to the pic below. (she's not dead. She's just more interested in bugs than having her pic taken.)


The things that confuse me:

She's ACTIVE. First one up in the morning, loudest egg dance, first one to go running for the dirt to dig for bugs when I open the run door.

She's the dominant one. I don't think she's getting picked on or mounted by another hen. I don't watch my birds 24 hours a day so I may be wrong.

She's been laying regularly. Last month when it was cool, we'd get about 2 eggs a week, now it's up to 4-5. She's the only bird who lays green eggs, so we know her schedule.

The other chickens aren't affected. They're fine. Full feathers, and haven't even started to molt.

Questions:

What is it? Disease? Pest? Chicken eating the pin feathers for the blood and didn't stop?

I'm going to start feeding BOSS for more protein. What kind of medicine should I put on her back? Do you have any other suggestions to help her get her feathers back?

Thanks in advance.
B

 

[kaitlyn_rae2003]

Hi,
I am hoping someone answers/replies soon, I have a similar problem, without the blood though! Id love to hear some responses. Hoping she feels better and you get some help!

 

[dawg53]

Wow! Her back looks rough. I would first cleanse it with a 50/50 solution of betadine/water. Then apply neosporin (without pain reliever.) I dont recommend blu-kote in this situation because it has alcohol in it and could possibly burn/sting her. It's not molt. There could be several reasons this has happened: A change in the pecking order. Overcrowding. Lack of enough protein in their diet. Lice or mites. I doubt it's lice or mites though, but you can visually inspect all your chickens just in case. I recommend you seperate her from the others because they will continue to pick on her, but keep her within sight of the others to lessen further eventual altercations, "a cage within a cage" so to speak. Or, you can purchase a chicken saddle which will cover and protect her back, then there will be no need to seperate her and her feathers will eventaully grow back. I suggest you increase their protein intake by feeding them gamebird feed which is about 22% protein, do this for a couple of weeks and observe if there's any improvement. It will help with feather regrowth and most likely stop the picking, if that's what it is. If you think they are overcrowded in their pen or in their house, you might consider expansion to resolve this issue. Chickens are social creatures, but also need their space. Good luck.

 

[bad_coffee]

Thanks for the help. I ordered a saddle, and I'll get some protien-heavy food this week.

If anyone has any other ideas I'd love to hear them.

B

 

[schellie69]

She might have lost a few feathers and the others saw blood they won't stop until they can't see it anymore I would put some kind of antibotic cream without pain relief on it. try some yogurt with dry cat food mixed in that will help boost their protein and buy a good game bird feed 22% protein since they free range it should help with growing feathers and laying eggs. I would do an inspection for lice/mites just to be safe. Good luck.

 

[hennyannie]

I have had alot of trouble with the EEs in my mix flock getting this treatment. I have no clue why they are always victoms. I think you also need something to cover the blood color, I use blood stop, but I think any powder would work even baking powder.

 

[Judy]

You can easily make your own saddle. Look here; scroll down about 2/3 of the way.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=167

And do check on lice/mites, just in case.

If you separate her, she will have to re-enter the flock at the bottom of the pecking order. I would try to avoid this; that's why I thought about a right-away saddle, if only temporary.

 

[bad_coffee]

Update.

Put a saddle on her, and it helped, but she still gets her feathers plucked by one of the other chickens.

The last few days she's been hanging out in the nest box. I figured she had just gone broody, and I was ready to let nature run it's course and she'd eventually come out of it.

Today I'm out in the back yard, and she comes walking over to check out what I was doing. Then she turns to walk away, and I see A BIG HOLE IN HER SIDE! Not that she seems to notice. She's mobile, eating and drinking, and seems okay.



I get out the betadine, mix it 50/50 with warm water and bathe the wound. She doesn't flinch when I irrigate the wound, and she does the normal 'just put down' shake and then goes back to her being her chicken self.

Tonight when I got home from work, I checked on her. Now the wound has running pus in a few places, it looks pretty bad. I'm going to do a saline rinse, and then see how she is in the morning. I have a strong feeling I'll be putting her out this week.

It sucks. She is actually my favorite of the three birds.

B

 

[bad_coffee]

The next time I checked on the wound, it was wet and oozing puss.

I get out the saline wound spray and rinse it out as well as I can, and put the bird back into the coop.

She's still eating, drinking and generally hiding from the other birds. The wound looks dry and scabbed over, but there's still a HOLE IN MY CHICKEN!

We'll see how she's doing in a week. If she doesn't get some feathers and get the wound healed by the time the snow comes, I think I'm going to end up with a chicken-cicle.

B

 

[dawg53]

Quote:
I'm sorry to say that I believe it would be best to cull her. The open hole will be an eventual detriment to her quality of life.