Feather loss and the cold

[Coldd]

I had pecking issues earlier this year, in the fall. We’re coming into a real cold patch (5F tonight) and I was wondering if I should put my brooder heat plate in my coop to maybe give the hens some relief.

Any thoughts on this? There is new feather loss in some of the birds (one looks ROUGH. She has no more long tail feathers, and is going feather-bare behind her neck and about her face. Another is going feather bare by her face too.). No lice or mites that I can see. Big feather pins from what I can see in those areas but no fluffy downy feathers.

Thoughts? I feel bad that they look so rough and that I can’t seem to manage their behavior to keep them looking good. I know they can handle the cold, but she looks tired and wore out. They are on feather fixer feed (18%) and I feed them a good amount of dried mealworms as a treat each day for more protein. Most bare hen is at the bottom of the pecking order I think.

Photos included of the hens. They are about 8 months old.

 

[sourland]

Photos are not showing. Is it possible that they are in a molt?

 

[centrarchid]

I see lots of blood feathers so in molt. They will have a tougher time but if not underweight they should be fine.

 

[Coldd]

I think they may be too young for that? It would be good if they were molting instead of having some other problem. Lots of pins and clear skin in the sparsely feathered areas.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

They don't look too young for a molt. Do they have access to get in nest boxes at night? Last year I had a few still in a hard molt when it got cold. It's the only time I allow them to get in nest boxes at night. If they do that, you'll know they were cold.

 

[Coldd]

Yes, they have three boxes they can hop into whenever they want. They seem to smash themselves onto the roosts when I go to close the coop and open it in the AM. They used to huddle on the floor, now they’re all on the roosts.

 

[centrarchid]

The molt underway may not be the annual molt of adult chickens, rather the molt marking transition from juvenile to adult.

 

[Coldd]

Thank you all so much for the input. It is reassuring to hear. Do you think the heat plate is a waste of time? There’s still a lot of bare bottoms from earlier this fall.

 

[aart]

Do you think the heat plate is a waste of time?

Yes.
They'll be fine as long as they are dry and out of the wind.

 

[Coldd]

Thanks everyone!