feather loss

[JACKO]

My old english game rooster has feather loss top of legs and under wings and belly, otherwise he is perfectly healthy, how can I treat this.

 

[crazychickenwom]

Is he molting? Do nothing, he will be fine and will regrow his feathers soon.

 

[JACKO]

well, thankyou very much, i'll take your advice, regards Jacko

 

[krazeepolack]

I have an equal mix of white leghorns & rhode island reds. 9 of each, & someone recently donated me the rooster from HELL! He keeps law & order in the coop & pen. He is the meanest **** rooster we've ever seen. I think he CREATED the term ATTACK rooster! He has attacked & drawn blood on me on several (too many) occasions. My problem, or the leghorns problem is loss of wholsale feathers to necks, backs, tails & other places. This looks terrible. It is NOT because of the attack rooster. They started doing this prior to Mr Roo moving in. It started mid winter & is still going on. I gave up the molting idea months ago. At 1st, I thought water deficiency? Nope! Feed, or lack of? Nope! Summer/winter heat/? Nope!

What's left? Even thier yolks have gotten so they hardly hold thier shape. The yolk color is fine, but a very soft/mushy sort of thing. I feed lay pellets, scratch, & boss in addition to table leftovers. This has been happening since winter & only to the leghorns. The reds seem fine- It also started happening to Mr attack roo after he moved in, but only around his neck. I cannot blame him therefore. I keep the coop as clean as possible, the outer pen was just cleaned, & I have styarted free ranging, hoping anything will help. They all appear energetic & healthy other than the loss of feathers. Anyone make anything out of this? I listed every possible thing I could think of. Hope this helps someone w/the same headache. (except for the ATTACK Roo!! He will attack for no reason, even when he's approached through the wire cage. Anytime my hens see me, they act like I'm the pied piper. They mob me for goodies. HELP!

 

[krazeepolack]

WAH! Still no reply to my feather loss problem- (or the chickens feather loss problem) What to do? What to do?

 

[Intownchickens]

yea i know how you feel i posted 3 1/2 hours ago that my hen was sick and not a single soul responded with any help and just a few minutes ago she died in my arms !!!!! people had time to post about other stuff because my comment got pushed way down the list !! sorry if im ranting but this was my baby !!!! i only had her for about 4 months !!!!!!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I have an equal mix of white leghorns & rhode island reds. 9 of each, & someone recently donated me the rooster from HELL! He keeps law & order in the coop & pen. He is the meanest **** rooster we've ever seen. I think he CREATED the term ATTACK rooster! He has attacked & drawn blood on me on several (too many) occasions. My problem, or the leghorns problem is loss of wholsale feathers to necks, backs, tails & other places. This looks terrible. It is NOT because of the attack rooster. They started doing this prior to Mr Roo moving in. It started mid winter & is still going on. I gave up the molting idea months ago. At 1st, I thought water deficiency? Nope! Feed, or lack of? Nope! Summer/winter heat/? Nope!

What's left? Even thier yolks have gotten so they hardly hold thier shape. The yolk color is fine, but a very soft/mushy sort of thing. I feed lay pellets, scratch, & boss in addition to table leftovers. This has been happening since winter & only to the leghorns. The reds seem fine- It also started happening to Mr attack roo after he moved in, but only around his neck. I cannot blame him therefore. I keep the coop as clean as possible, the outer pen was just cleaned, & I have styarted free ranging, hoping anything will help. They all appear energetic & healthy other than the loss of feathers. Anyone make anything out of this? I listed every possible thing I could think of. Hope this helps someone w/the same headache. (except for the ATTACK Roo!! He will attack for no reason, even when he's approached through the wire cage. Anytime my hens see me, they act like I'm the pied piper. They mob me for goodies. HELP!

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps020
this might help with egg questions

I would think you might have a mite problem. That can cause feather loss. Do they shake their heads every 5-15 seconds?

There are also mites that get them at night, when they sleep and you might never see them on the chicken. So, if it were me, I'd be a-cleaning out the coop, dusting them, spraying the coop.

Retreat every week until bugs are gone (throw out all litter, spray coop, and dust birds every week so go easy on your litter).

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/973/feather-loss-in-chickens
http://msucares.com/poultry/diseases/pesticides.html

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ig140

http://www.nda.agric.za/docs/poultry/feather_skin.htm
this one is from another country but describes feather loss with mites

I personally suspect that you are having some soft-shelled eggs, resulting in staleness of the yolk when it is cracked, so it won't hold its shape. The soft-shelled eggs might be from mites (they get sucked dry and basically it can kill your flock).

So if I were you I'd treat for mites and retreat every week for at least two times to be sure there is no problem, since your feather loss issue has been so long-standing.
http://club.omlet.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=28893
this sounds pretty good from most of what I skimmed but Diatomaceous Earth won't killl them enough with an infestation
It is best to use permethrin dust (or if you use sevin dust would be off-label and not approved for poultry anymore). The feed store carries Poultry Dust.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Also I'd cull the roo. Been there done that. After he drew blood on my youngest child that was the end of that.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

yea i know how you feel i posted 3 1/2 hours ago that my hen was sick and not a single soul responded with any help and just a few minutes ago she died in my arms !!!!! people had time to post about other stuff because my comment got pushed way down the list !! sorry if im ranting but this was my baby !!!! i only had her for about 4 months !!!!!!

I am so sorry no one responded.

I am extremely sorry for your loss. It is hard to lose a beloved chicken.

 

[krazeepolack]

Well, I'd like to thank you kindly for your response!! THANK YOU! I will jump

on this info 1st thing tomorrow!! Have a great evening!