- Mar 26, 2012
- 2
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- 7
Little bit of history...
We live in Southeastern Arizona. Just over a year ago, we started out with 10 (one day old) babies, 2 ended up being roosters, and 8 hens. The roosters started getting very agressive and posessive over the girls. We unfortunatly had to get rid of the most overbearing rooster. The girls calmed down and were fine for a while, but their feathers never did fill back in. We moved about 2 months ago, and they are in a temporary "roomy" coop with a good size run until we can get ours built. My girls however, are not looking well. Their backs are still featherless, and I fear some are sunburned. If/when their feathers look as if they are coming in (about 1/4") growth after a few days the their feathers/quills all seem to disappear as if they all went back under the skin. Some of their backs aren't burned and are smooth, but there are a couple that just pain me to look at them, they are dry, red, chapped and just looks like they hurt. My remaining rooster is also looking as if he is now molting but of course his back still has feathers. He is still the dominant, and mounting them often. We have tried bag balm, and corona ointment on the girls to try to soften their skin, but it hasn't helped at all. I purchased hen saddles for all of them, but they didn't adapt well, and they remove them. We are going to get shade cloth for the run, to give them some break from the direct sun since there is very little shade in the early mornings. I am desperate for any suggestions. I hate to have to get rid of my remaining rooster, but I fear this is going to have to happen so my girls can grow some feathers back.