External parasites!?

[Kelseylouuu]

Hi guys! I have been struggling with my girls lately. I have a flock of 17, and about 6-8 of them are dealing with feather loss. They are 7 months old, so not molting. I do not have a rooster, so not from that. I have a hunch that it’s self mutilation. I sprayed one with blue kote and then saw it on her beak. I have looked for evidence of mites and lice and do not see anything. It is on their saddle area and on both sides of their vents. It’s completely bare and raw in some spots, and the feathers are just broken in other spots. So my questions are:
1) can I treat just to rule that out?
2) will it hurt to treat girls that aren’t effected?
3) is there something to treat both lice and mites?
4) any other suggestions??

 

[21hens-incharge]

The blu-kote could have been on her beak from grooming.

Permethrin 10 is good to treat both mites and lice. You would need to treat the birds and clean out then spray the coop. It needs retreated in 10 days too.

Is it possible you have mice? I have seen mice chew feathers off of sleeping birds.

What feed are you giving including treats?
Do the birds have adequate space?
Recommended often and a good starting point is 4square foot per bird in the coop and 10square feet each in the run. Bigger is always better though.

Sometimes there will be dominance mounting as the pecking order gets sorted.
Bored birds will feather pluck too.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Just because many pullets will skip the molt their first winter doesn't mean all do. They can molt at any time. But that is not molting. Something else is causing that. With that bare spot on that barred one you do need to figure it out.

How did you check for evidence of mites? Roost mites hide in dark cracks and crevices during the day and attack at night in the dark. You need to check for them at night. Still, treating them as 21 mentioned won't hurt and may help. Treat all chickens, clean out the coop, and treat the coop. Then do it again a week to ten days later.

I don't know what is causing that. The bare spot on the barred one looks like feather picking to me. I had a hen do that to a rooster's neck one time. He just stood there as she plucked away. I locked him up for a couple of days and she quit when I released him. I don't know why she did that, they had plenty of room and good feed. She might have been grooming him and gotten carried away.

That other might be feather picking but looks more like mechanical damage to me. Are they laying or roosting somewhere that wears on their feathers? You don't have a rooster, but as 21 mentioned sometimes things can happen when they sort out the pecking order. Some hens have brittle feathers, they easily break. That's typically because if nutrients, I can't remember which nutrients and is normally about how their bodies handle those nutrients more than the nutrients not being present. That's why it affects some and not others. They are the right age to sort our pecking order as they each individually reach maturity.

Has this just started? If it is feather picking, and it could be, a big cause of all kinds of behavioral problems is lack of room. You are in Connecticut, thanks for providing that information. Has this coincided with them being cooped up in a restricted space with a weather change or something else?

I'd have never thought of rats or mice but who's to argue with someone else's experience. You might try setting some traps where chickens and other critters can't get to them to see what happens.

I don't know how much affect what they eat has to do with feather picking. Some people really believe it does, I'm not sure. I don't know how you are feeding them or how much room they have available. That makes it a little hard to come up with specific suggestions.

If they are relatively confined, can you give them more room or improve the quality of their space by giving them clutter they can hide under, behind, or over the others? You might try giving them a little BOSS. That's Black Oil Sunflower Seeds. BOSS is relatively high in protein so that might address that issue if it is a problem, but more important to me the Oil in BOSS can soften their feathers, make them look better and less easy to break. If you scatter BOSS in the coop or run they will scratch for it, giving them something to do.

I don't like that bare spot, that could be dangerous. The other stuff doesn't bother me that much as I don't think it's that dangerous but yeah, you want to correct it if you can.

Good luck!

 

[chickens really]

You need to get a mite and Lice spray or the birds..

 

[Morgank]

To me its moulting. The feathers from the skin become fluffy and I know this picture. I dont remember, when my chickens start moulting first, but it was pretty young. There may be blood or black dots, its normal. But this is only my opinion!

 

[aart]

I have a hunch that it’s self mutilation. I sprayed one with blue kote and then saw it on her beak.

The blu-kote could have been on her beak from grooming.

Yep, they don't like it on them and will try to preen it off.

I'd bet feather picking.
Crowding, 'boredom' and diet are the first things to look at.

How big your coop and run, in feet by feet?
Dimensions and pics, inside and out, always sheds some light on things.

What all and how exactly are you feeding?
Tho low protein can lead to feather picking, it can become a habit.

I don't treat for bugs unless I see them...then permethrin dust or spray.
My Bug Check notes:
Have you checked them over real well for mites and/or lice?

Google images of lice/mites and their eggs before the inspection so you'll know what you're looking for.

Part the feathers right down to the skin around vent, head/neck and under wings.

Best done well after dark with a strong flashlight/headlight, easier to 'catch' bird and also to check for the mites that live in structure and only come out at night to feed off roosting birds.

Wipe a white paper towel along the underside of roost to look for red smears(smashed well fed mites).

Good post about mite ID by Lady McCamley:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-chicken-has-mites-now-what.1273674/page-2#post-20483008