Extremely Heavy Molt? Or mites?

[NewbieFarm]

This is one of my hens, she looks sooo ragged. But she acts healthy as a horse. This looks to extreme to be just a molt.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Well if she has mites, you'll see mites.

 

[NewbieFarm]

I've looked, i couldn't see any. I'll try looking at night with a flashlight.

 

[roostersandhens]

It looks kinda like she's been over-mated. Do you have rooster(s)?

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Do you have a rooster? Looks like a heavy moult or overmating to me, but more like a heavy moult. Keep an eye on her for a week or so and see if any pin feathers grow in on the bare areas. If so, moult. If not, she's either being pecked or over-mated.

If you're worried about mites, dust her, the coop and the nest boxes with Sevin dust. That will clear them right up. Sevin is actually labeled as a poultry dust for control of external parasites (although they don't often put that information on the consumer canister).

Here's one of mine from this year:



All of that area on her breast and legs where you see the gray pin feathers coming in was as bare as a supermarket roasted chicken for two weeks before the pin feathers started coming in.

 

[NewbieFarm]

@roostersandhens I have one rooster and 34 hens.