Extreme feather loss

[Nataliec1006]

Hello
I’ve been cleaning out my chickens today and there was a lot of white feathers everywhere. One of my chickens has got extreme feather loss. See pics!
I’m not sure if it’s from molting, feather plucking, boredom, mites or Illness.

Some of my other chickens have also lost feathers around their vents. I have 6 chickens in a good sized enclosure. One bluebell, 3 Rhode Island and 2 white brahmas (I think, they were given to us) Any advice or suggestions would be great.
I’m spraying some feather plucking spray on them to try help and I can’t see any mites. Please Help!!!

 

[dawg53]

Welcome to BYC. It's molt. Since you were given some of these chickens, inspect them closely for lice/mites, especially around the vent area as a precaution.
Mites are tiny, they look like black or red pepper and move slow or dont move at all. Lice are white or off white in color and move quickly through feathers and fluff. You might see lice eggs attached to feather shafts, particularly around the vent where it's warm and moist.

 

[glassdragonfly]

 

[DobieLover]

Hello
I’ve been cleaning out my chickens today and there was a lot of white feathers everywhere. One of my chickens has got extreme feather loss. See pics!
I’m not sure if it’s from molting, feather plucking, boredom, mites or Illness.

Some of my other chickens have also lost feathers around their vents. I have 6 chickens in a good sized enclosure. One bluebell, 3 Rhode Island and 2 white brahmas (I think, they were given to us) Any advice or suggestions would be great.
I’m spraying some feather plucking spray on them to try help and I can’t see any mites. Please Help!!!

The bird pictured is molting.
She also looks to have a damaged pin feather, due to an accident or pecking.
How much area does your flock have in the run in ft x ft? What size is their coop? Can you post pictures of both?
Have you winterized the run yet?
Mites generally feed off chickens at night. Lice live on the body of the chicken for the lifetime of the louse. To rule out a potential compounding issue of mites on top of the molt, you will need to go out to the coop after dark and inspect the roost and birds at that time.

 

[dawg53]

Actually, most mites stay and live on chickens. There's only a few that leave their host and return for night feeding. The red mite is probably the most dangerous of these that come out for night feeding. Mites cause anemia, then death. Poultry lice are more of an irritant but will feed on blood if the opportunity arises, such as a cut or scrape.
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ig140

 

[DobieLover]

Actually, most mites stay and live on chickens. There's only a few that leave their host and return for night feeding. The red mite is probably the most dangerous of these that come out for night feeding. Mites cause anemia, then death. Poultry lice are more of an irritant but will feed on blood if the opportunity arises, such as a cut or scrape.
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ig140

Fair enough. But the OP did a day time body check and saw nothing. It's time for a night time check.

 

[Nataliec1006]

The bird pictured is molting.
She also looks to have a damaged pin feather, due to an accident or pecking.
How much area does your flock have in the run in ft x ft? What size is their coop? Can you post pictures of both?
Have you winterized the run yet?
Mites generally feed off chickens at night. Lice live on the body of the chicken for the lifetime of the louse. To rule out a potential compounding issue of mites on top of the molt, you will need to go out to the coop after dark and inspect the roost and birds at that time.

hi

I’ll post a pic shortly.
They have a small shed with a coop inside, with a entrance that leads into a big caged aviary with perches. The aviary is 4ft long, 5ft wide and 6ft high.
This aviary is in its own section of high fenced garden that’s quite large so we keep the aviary door open to let them wander.
We put wood chip/bark on the ground of the aviary for them to scratch through.

I put a poultry powder down on the ground and over their coop to stop mites.
What is a good lice remedy?

 

[sourland]

Welcome to BYC - looks like the middle of a hard molt to me. I'd be tempted to boost her nutrition with protein supplements. It has always amazed me how rapidly chickens 'refeather' in the cold weather.

 

[DobieLover]

hi

I’ll post a pic shortly.
They have a small shed with a coop inside, with a entrance that leads into a big caged aviary with perches. The aviary is 4ft long, 5ft wide and 6ft high.
This aviary is in its own section of high fenced garden that’s quite large so we keep the aviary door open to let them wander.
We put wood chip/bark on the ground of the aviary for them to scratch through.

I put a poultry powder down on the ground and over their coop to stop mites.
What is a good lice remedy?

Do they have the entire day out in the garden? The aviary (aka run here in the States) is too small for 6 LF chickens.
The aviary seems like it has lots of things in it, it's just not big enough.
Permethrin is good for treating both lice and mites on the birds and the coop.

 

[sourland]

I would keep an eye on her to make sure that flock mates do not start feather picking/plucking her pinfeathers.