Feather loss in the rear....

[jgcalifornia]

As far as I know, I check food and water daily, they usually go every other day for food and sometimes go every other day for water. Most of the time I add ACV but not all the time. Their food is %16 protein. They laid 7 beautiful eggs today.. I let them out in the yard for at least an hour each day but mostly I let them out for as long as I can

What do you mean " they usually go every other day for food and sometimes go every other day for water"
When you say you let them out in the yard for at least an hour, where are they otherwise?
If they are laying, that is a good sign.

 

[NikkisChix]

I usually have to fill their food up every other day, it doesn't run completely out though. Their water mostly is changed daily but sometimes depending on when I changed it the day before, it can be changed every other day. It's a 1gal feeder and the same size waterer. Otherwise their coop is 4x8 with an 8x16 run

 

[jgcalifornia]

Do you see their feathers everywhere in their coop?
1 hour a day of outdoor time is not nearly enough in my opinion.
Chickens, or any animal for that matter need to be outdoors. That is where their natural habitat is and we should not be confining them.

If there are feathers everywhere in the coop, it's more than likely they are pulling them out because they are bored and going crazy in there.
I would do the same thing.

 

[NikkisChix]

They free range on weekdays from 3ish-7ish, on weekends they are out whenever I'm home. Their coop is 4x8 with an 8x16 run with a mirror and different roosts and tree stumps etc but pretty much when ever home I let the dogs out to pee and then they come in and he chickens are free!
And no there are not an alarming amount of feathers in the coop.

 

[whittychick]

A heavy layer will loose feathers back there too!! A few of my girls had same thing n vet said it was caused by laying!

 

[oregonkat]

I have a question regarding feather loss too. I have a black australorp, and a barred rock that have no feathers around their bums right up under their tummies and to their breasts. The feathers all look like they have been broken off with no new ones showing up. The areas around their bums are almost raw. This has been going on for about 3 months now and I have a wellsummer and a americauna with a patches on the sides of their necks with the same thing, but not their butts. The rest of my hens are fat and happy and do not show signs of this at all. I have dusted the affected birds for mites several times and dusted the coop but wouldnt the other birds be showing signs also? The affected birds are still laying and seem to be quite happy but winter cometh and I worry about their exposure. Any input?

 

[jgcalifornia]

I have a question regarding feather loss too.  I have a black australorp, and a barred rock that have no feathers around their bums right up under their tummies and to their breasts.  The feathers all look like they have been broken off with no new ones showing up.  The areas around their bums are almost raw.  This has been going on for about 3 months now and I have a wellsummer and a americauna with a patches on the sides of their necks with the same thing, but not their butts.  The rest of my hens are fat and happy and do not show signs of this at all.  I have dusted the affected birds for mites several times and dusted the coop but wouldnt the other birds be showing signs also?  The affected birds are still laying and seem to be quite happy but winter cometh and I worry about their exposure.  Any input?

Have you seen feathers on the ground in or around the coop or yard area where they roam?
3 months is a long time. You dont see any new growths coming in?
I would ask what they are eating and drinking. Are they getting their nutritional needs met, vitamins, calcium etc...
Although you have dusted have you sat down with one of your girls and gone through her feathers to see if lice or mites are present?
I would try that. Just put her in your lap and start at the neck and look through her feathers. I do this everyday, mostly because of the extreme heat, but when it cools down I don't need to do it as much.

Poultry Protector also works great. You can spray it directly on them.

 

[oregonkat]

I have seen feathers about, but as this has been a long time happening, most of the feathers around are naturally molted and are complete (not broken off, in other words) I did not pay that much attention at the beginning of this anomaly as I assumed they were molting. As to their nutrition, they have an all in one granular feed as well as milo, chicken scratch with wheat, millet and other grains and I farm mealworms for them but they only get 2 or 3 worms each a day as my farm isnt that big yet and they have access to the compost pile as they are free range on most days. I dont put any vitamin supps. in the water. Should I? I did give the affected girls a pretty good going over when I dusted them, I had them on their backs on my lap going over them but I didnt see any creepy crawlies. Should I be doing this at night? As for Poultry Protector what is it, and where do I get it? Thanks for your input.

 

[jgcalifornia]

I have seen feathers about, but as this has been a long time happening, most of the feathers around are naturally molted and are complete (not broken off, in other words) I did not pay that much attention at the beginning of this anomaly as I assumed they were molting.  As to their nutrition, they have an all in one granular feed as well as milo, chicken scratch with wheat, millet and other grains and I farm mealworms for them but they only get 2 or 3 worms each a day as my farm isnt that big yet and they have access to the compost pile as they are free range on most days.  I dont put any vitamin supps. in the water.  Should I?  I did give the affected girls a pretty good going over when I dusted them, I had them on their backs on my lap going over them but I didnt see any creepy crawlies.  Should I be doing this at night?  As for Poultry Protector what is it, and where do I get it?  Thanks for your input.

I didn't see any calcium in your description..Oyster shells and Black Oiled Sunflower seeds are essential, in my opinion.

I don't do earthworms anymore because it actually gave them worms the size of spaghetti. So if they find them in the wild that's one thing, but I don't give them.

I don't check mine at night. I do mine in the afternoon. When I find them I usually pull them off and then spray the area with Poultry Protector. It's just a spray made up of enzymes, all natural.
They also make a concentrate which you can make and then dip your girls. When I do this I also clean out the bedding in my coop and start fresh. I love the PP because its natural and when they poke around on themselves or clean themselves they are not ingesting chemicals.
www.jefferspet.com/products/poultry-protector

I also know Milo isnt the greatest protein source. Try giving them some greens? Some Kale perhaps? It's packed with vitamins & minerals.

This is just the nutritional perspective of things.. Is it possible you've got a feather picker in the pack? One that's doing this to them?
Is their poop okay?

 

[oregonkat]

Well, I can start them on some oyster shell. I dont farm earthworms just mealworms which as far as I understand from the forum on them here, are great sources of protein for the birds. The poop looks normal, behavior normal. I like the idea of a feather picker, I will watch for that in the evening when they are in the coop as it does not appear to be happening during the day. What do these mites look like? I will check them again this afternoon. Thanks for the link to the poultry protector, it is way cheaper there than on Amazon.