Feathers looking straggly, fraying, broken ends

[wvwzzz]

Hi all
I raised 20 Isa Browns from day old chicks, they are about 9 months old now.
In the past month I noticed the feathers on the necks and backs of the Isa Browns are looking straggly, fraying, some of the ends of the smaller feathers have broken off.

I have checked for mites and can't find any.
I think they are getting enough nutrition, they are laying really well.
They have constant access to sand and soil for dust baths.
I have a rooster but he hasn't been particularly active lately.
The fraying feathers seem to be in the areas the hens groom.
I do have a mouse problem in the coops at night but I don't think the mice are brazen enough to pester the hens on their roosts.

I might be overreacting but this is my first time raising chickens from day olds so I am not sure if this is part of the natural aging process. A couple of months ago they all had beautiful smooth feathers and now all of the Isa Browns seem to have some fraying feathers on their necks.

It's Autumn (Fall) here in Australia at the moment, the days are getting a lot cooler with more rain. My older hens are just finishing their molts.

I'll post up some photos.

Thanks for your help, much appreciated.

 

[wvwzzz]

Some photos of the Isa Browns before I noticed the fraying feathers (photos taken from February to April this year).

 

[Susan55]

Hi all
I raised 20 Isa Browns from day old chicks, they are about 9 months old now.
In the past month I noticed the feathers on the necks and backs of the Isa Browns are looking straggly, fraying, some of the ends of the smaller feathers have broken off.

I have checked for mites and can't find any.
I think they are getting enough nutrition, they are laying really well.
They have constant access to sand and soil for dust baths.
I have a rooster but he hasn't been particularly active lately.
The fraying feathers seem to be in the areas the hens groom.
I do have a mouse problem in the coops at night but I don't think the mice are brazen enough to pester the hens on their roosts.

I might be overreacting but this is my first time raising chickens from day olds so I am not sure if this is part of the natural aging process. A couple of months ago they all had beautiful smooth feathers and now all of the Isa Browns seem to have some fraying feathers on their necks.

It's Autumn (Fall) here in Australia at the moment, the days are getting a lot cooler with more rain. My older hens are just finishing their molts.

I'll post up some photos.

Thanks for your help, much appreciated.

I would assume they are starting to molt, but I don’t know much about this breed.

 

[Debbie292d]

They look beautiful to me, but if you want to improve feather quality, try an all-flock feed. That's got 20% protein. The higher protein also improves feathers and feather growth, thus supports them better during a molt too.

I would really try to get rid of the mice though. They can have lice and diseases. One safe idea you could try is just to keep them out of their coop with scent packets. I wrote an article how to make them. You'd need to put them where the chickens can't get to them. Nothing is toxic, but it could still harm them being so potent.