feather loss

[cousin dave]

I have Two Black stars that are losing neck feathers at an alarming rate, and one is disorientated, and walking like it is drunk. They are in a flock of 29 birds, consisting of red stars and black stars with a half dozen wyandotes. They have a large yard and pen, plenty of coop room. They are about 20 months old. about half are molting and we are down to about 50% laying eggs.
I can get a few pictures if needed, any ideas as to what is going on? Do i need to quarantine them? Will they pull thru? Should they be put down?
cousin Dave

 

[azygous]

Pictures of the feather loss areas would be helpful. Molt can be determined by how uniform the regrowth of new pin feathers is. If there are lots of broken feathers and pin feathers show signs of being pecked with red, irritated skin, then something else is going on.

Appetite can suffer during molt, and this can cause a starvation response. It can cause weakness, vitamin deficiencies, and neurological symptoms on rare occasions such as lameness and balance issues. The counter to this is extra protein and vitamin therapy.