FunnyBunny89
Songster
- Apr 3, 2024
- 478
- 792
- 181
I have tried looking this up but I can't narrow it down. My hens and my roosters (especially the roos) are progressively getting rougher and rougher. Their feathers are almost crunchy feeling in some spots. I dealt with lice through winter and again in Spring, but they're all gone now and I built a large wood ash and dirt dust bath for the chickens, which they use religiously. They otherwise seem healthy, energetic and eating. Their combs are all normal looking.
I have looked for evidence of mites and can't find any. I check at night, I've tried different intervals through the night to see if it made any difference, but I cannot find any evidence of mites at all. I read that feather mites are microscopic so maybe that's my problem, but the coop has been cleaned and treated more than once, and I use sand floors that have DE mixed in to prevent bugs and it seems to work.
I noticed this trend started when I started to let them all free range. Is it possible they are nutrient deficient? Laying has only very recently slowed down, and it looks like some hens are molting. But there are feathers everywhere and I can't tell if it's just molting or feather loss from something bad.
Some hens look better than others, but nobody feels soft anymore. I have juveniles who are all still soft and pretty and seem unaffected.
Also, I've been feeding my chickens Bar Ale All Flock crumbles for over a year now, so I don't think it's the food, but they don't eat as much of it since I started letting them free range so that's why I'm wondering if it's a nutrient deficiency.
I have looked for evidence of mites and can't find any. I check at night, I've tried different intervals through the night to see if it made any difference, but I cannot find any evidence of mites at all. I read that feather mites are microscopic so maybe that's my problem, but the coop has been cleaned and treated more than once, and I use sand floors that have DE mixed in to prevent bugs and it seems to work.
I noticed this trend started when I started to let them all free range. Is it possible they are nutrient deficient? Laying has only very recently slowed down, and it looks like some hens are molting. But there are feathers everywhere and I can't tell if it's just molting or feather loss from something bad.
Some hens look better than others, but nobody feels soft anymore. I have juveniles who are all still soft and pretty and seem unaffected.
Also, I've been feeding my chickens Bar Ale All Flock crumbles for over a year now, so I don't think it's the food, but they don't eat as much of it since I started letting them free range so that's why I'm wondering if it's a nutrient deficiency.
