I started a new thread because my old one wasn't really about this issue. I'm stumped. Maybe I just have a misunderstanding about one of these concepts, but I can't seem to figure out what (if anything) is wrong. I'm totally aware the answer might be "nothing."
I have 4 hens (EE, Black Star, RIR, Australorp). About 6 months ago the EE and BS had a lice problem and stopped laying. The BS lost feathers around her vent and on the back of her neck at the time. Those haven't really grown back. Treated all the birds with a "natural" pest control and the bugs went away and the hens started laying, until we noticed lice again about a month ago (same 2 birds only). At that point I dusted all the birds. Second dusting a week later. No sign of bugs now.
In the meantime, we went on vacation for a week and the neighbor picked up our eggs. They had plenty of water and should've had food at all times. When I got back the Australorp had a huge bald spot on her back above her tail feathers. About 2"x2". Over the next couple days I noticed the birds looked less feathered, I was seeing a lot more "fluff" on them. I saw the RIR peck a feather off the BS's back. I saw the BS eat one feather off the ground. To this day that's the only unusual behavior I've seen. But now the feather situation is even worse. The BS and Australorp are basically 100% fluff at this point. They look pretty silly. The EE and RIR are still mostly feathered, but pretty fluffy on their backs and butts. I thought maybe the RIR was eating feathers at first, but it doesn't seem like she could do all this damage herself, and I wouldn't expect her back to be looking fluffy.
They're all energetic. They otherwise look happy and healthy, all behavior is normal. Solid red combs. All hens laying 5+ tasty eggs/week. No rooster. So I'm thinking:
1. Molting? The easiest answer. But the days are very long, and they're all still producing tons of eggs.
2. Possible they had a food issue while I was on vacation that led to feather eating, but they've had steady food FOR SURE for the last 2 weeks, with lots of mealworms in case protein was an issue, so why would the feather loss be getting rapidly worse? And I'd expect a drop in production if it were malnourishment.
3. Eating feathers because the 16% protein feed I use still isn't enough? I live in the suburbs and haven't been able to track down anything higher, except for grower mash, and I don't think they'll eat mash. Again, I'd expect a drop in production, and this is the same feed they've had for well over 6 months.
4. Pecking from boredom/cramped space? I don't know if that can get serious enough to take two birds down to fluff? The birds are almost always in a big pen that's about 12'x12'. Should be plenty of room.
Happy to hear any thoughts or advice anyone has. It seems like with most problems egg production is the first thing to go. It almost seems like if they're laying eggs, they're probably fine. I'm just trying to figure out if there's a problem here I should be addressing.
I have 4 hens (EE, Black Star, RIR, Australorp). About 6 months ago the EE and BS had a lice problem and stopped laying. The BS lost feathers around her vent and on the back of her neck at the time. Those haven't really grown back. Treated all the birds with a "natural" pest control and the bugs went away and the hens started laying, until we noticed lice again about a month ago (same 2 birds only). At that point I dusted all the birds. Second dusting a week later. No sign of bugs now.
In the meantime, we went on vacation for a week and the neighbor picked up our eggs. They had plenty of water and should've had food at all times. When I got back the Australorp had a huge bald spot on her back above her tail feathers. About 2"x2". Over the next couple days I noticed the birds looked less feathered, I was seeing a lot more "fluff" on them. I saw the RIR peck a feather off the BS's back. I saw the BS eat one feather off the ground. To this day that's the only unusual behavior I've seen. But now the feather situation is even worse. The BS and Australorp are basically 100% fluff at this point. They look pretty silly. The EE and RIR are still mostly feathered, but pretty fluffy on their backs and butts. I thought maybe the RIR was eating feathers at first, but it doesn't seem like she could do all this damage herself, and I wouldn't expect her back to be looking fluffy.
They're all energetic. They otherwise look happy and healthy, all behavior is normal. Solid red combs. All hens laying 5+ tasty eggs/week. No rooster. So I'm thinking:
1. Molting? The easiest answer. But the days are very long, and they're all still producing tons of eggs.
2. Possible they had a food issue while I was on vacation that led to feather eating, but they've had steady food FOR SURE for the last 2 weeks, with lots of mealworms in case protein was an issue, so why would the feather loss be getting rapidly worse? And I'd expect a drop in production if it were malnourishment.
3. Eating feathers because the 16% protein feed I use still isn't enough? I live in the suburbs and haven't been able to track down anything higher, except for grower mash, and I don't think they'll eat mash. Again, I'd expect a drop in production, and this is the same feed they've had for well over 6 months.
4. Pecking from boredom/cramped space? I don't know if that can get serious enough to take two birds down to fluff? The birds are almost always in a big pen that's about 12'x12'. Should be plenty of room.
Happy to hear any thoughts or advice anyone has. It seems like with most problems egg production is the first thing to go. It almost seems like if they're laying eggs, they're probably fine. I'm just trying to figure out if there's a problem here I should be addressing.