Feather loss???

[Countryhippie]

Hello everyone.

Over the past few days I noticed a lot of feather loss in one of my hens. And minor feather loss in the other. I have four hens that are just about 9 months old. I was thinking it could be molting but they seem so young for this.

I had two roosters back in January who were ripping the feathers out of my hens, so I had to separate them. It wasn’t as bad as this feather though.

I didn’t know if it could be something else like bullying or feather picking. I have not see any of my hens bullying the other. Please let me know what I should do?? I have saddles should I put some saddles on them to protect the feathers or are their any other ideas?

 

[MysteryChicken]

Do you have a rooster?

 

[Battlepants]

Yea, this looks like the result of some excessive mating by a rooster. I would look into getting a hen saddle for those that are really getting hit here. Long term, get additional hens or reduce the number of roosters.

 

[SilverBirds]

That looks like rooster damage. Do you still have one?

 

[Countryhippie]

That looks like rooster damage. Do you still have one?

No. They are no longer with the hens. They are separated.

 

[Countryhippie]

Yea, this looks like the result of some excessive mating by a rooster. I would look into getting a hen saddle for those that are really getting hit here. Long term, get additional hens or reduce the number of roosters.

The roosters are no longer with the hens. They haven’t been since January. The feather loss before hand with roosters was minimal this has become much more severe in the past week.

 

[Countryhippie]

Do you have a rooster?

They are not with the hens.

 

[MysteryChicken]

They are not with the hens.

Could this be old damage from when they were with the ladies?

 

[Countryhippie]

Could this be old damage from when they were with the ladies?

It wasn’t this bad. Only the tan ones had the feather loss and it was very very minimal. Over the past week or two is when the tan hen with the worst feather loss started showing. When they were with roosters they are more ruffled rather than plucked out.

 

[Battlepants]

I'm wondering if you have a rooster in disguise, or a hen that is attempting to mate with the other hens. This pattern of damage is usually associated with mounting.

If it were molting, I would expect their butt feathers to have fallen off or at least thinning.

In the off chance that this is molting, make sure they are getting high protein feed to help them heal faster. (avoid treats/scratch)