Feather Picking? Bald Bottom? Crusty Clump?

[Lori123456]

Hi there.

Three hens who seemed to be getting into feather picking and then one of them, Alice, started showing new symptoms. All the feathers around her vent disappeared and a gray crusty clump is stuck to the feathers below her vent. Overall all the downy feathers on her underside seem kind of ratty. Her behavior hasn't changed and she is a consistent egg layer.

I'm hoping folks with experience will take a look at the pictures and let me know if there's something I can to do help Alice and her flock mates.
Photo Album: https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/albums/users/lori123456.597509/

Here's what I've done so far:

• increased protein
• nutritional supplements
• added a mirror to the coop
• Flock Block
• swinging snack cage
• Seed Toy (holes in plastic bottle to dispense black oil sunflower seeds as they scratch at it)
• increased free-range time from 6 to 10 hours
• blacked out the windows in their coop
• lectured the flock about the importance of not eating your friend's feathers
• got some Pick-No-More anti-cannibalism sauce but I don't know how to use it so I...chickened out, I guess.

Maybe the things I've tried are working and it just takes awhile for feathers to grow back. But it's Alice's situation that has me concerned. I don't know if it's connected what the others are displaying.

 

[Saaniya]

Hi there.

Three hens who seemed to be getting into feather picking and then one of them, Alice, started showing new symptoms. All the feathers around her vent disappeared and a gray crusty clump is stuck to the feathers below her vent. Overall all the downy feathers on her underside seem kind of ratty. Her behavior hasn't changed and she is a consistent egg layer.

I'm hoping folks with experience will take a look at the pictures and let me know if there's something I can to do help Alice and her flock mates.
Photo Album: https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/albums/users/lori123456.597509/

Here's what I've done so far:

• increased protein
• nutritional supplements
• added a mirror to the coop
• Flock Block
• swinging snack cage
• Seed Toy (holes in plastic bottle to dispense black oil sunflower seeds as they scratch at it)
• increased free-range time from 6 to 10 hours
• blacked out the windows in their coop
• lectured the flock about the importance of not eating your friend's feathers
• got some Pick-No-More anti-cannibalism sauce but I don't know how to use it so I...chickened out, I guess.

Maybe the things I've tried are working and it just takes awhile for feathers to grow back. But it's Alice's situation that has me concerned. I don't know if it's connected what the others are displaying.

.
Are they irritated or exhusted?
Sometimes it's a natural Behaviour adjust by the time my roosters used to pulk each other feathers when their brooder is too small in their chickdays

 

[Lori123456]

.
Are they irritated or exhusted?
Sometimes it's a natural Behaviour adjust by the time my roosters used to pulk each other feathers when their brooder is too small in their chickdays

Oh, that's an interesting question. I don't think they are irritated or exhausted but I should look up the symptoms just to be sure.
I have heard that this can happen if their habitat is too small. I'm hoping to rule out other options before I build a larger coop and run.
thanks for chiming in, Saaniya!

 

[Saaniya]

Oh, that's an interesting question. I don't think they are irritated or exhausted but I should look up the symptoms just to be sure.
I have heard that this can happen if their habitat is too small. I'm hoping to rule out other options before I build a larger coop and run.
thanks for chiming in, Saaniya!

Your welcome ..

 

[RubelliteRose]

I'm not sure about the gray crusty stuff, we haven't seen that with our balding hens. But if it is only feather damage and not skin damage, I wouldn't worry about the balding too much since you have taken steps to reduce their boredom. We are having the same problem with our lower ranked hens and I thought I read that the feathers may not entirely grow back until the next fall molt. Longer summer free range time does seem to have helped us. We are also in the process of expanding our coop and run, so hopefully that will help too.