feathers missing

[chickencrazy69]

Some of my chickens feathers are missing out of their backs they are jersey black giant hens at first i thought it was the pecking order so i talked to my local feed store and they sold me this stuff called blue kote and said it will make the beaks of the chickens that are picking on them have blue beaks when i used it none of their beaks were blue but they were still having feathers picked out of their backs but i also have a rooster with them and their are six hens so my friend (thekid he also has byc

) told me the rooster might be over mating and that i need more hens and i did notice that he mates with them alot. All help is appriciated. Thankyou - Andrew

 

[OHmamma]

Quote:
They also can go through a "back molt" when it gets hot. but the roo could be doing it. Try a hen apron or if you can, take the roo out for a while and give the girls a break. If it is from him they will grow in pretty quick. I made mine hen aprons out of empty feed bags and duct tape, not the most fashionable but they work!!

One other thing to check for is lice. Pick one up and lift her wing look closely at the base of the feathers in the "arm pit" and down the side of her back. If you see white stuff matting on the feathers or really superfast crawlers it is lice.

 

[chickencrazy69]

only about three are losing feathers and it looks more severe than lice or molting

 

[racingpigeons98]

The same thing is with my chickens. Their backs have no feathers. Though, I think it's from the rooster, because he jumps on them every 5 minutes and I have thirty chickens and two roosters, but one of them can't jump on any chickens because the other guy is the leader. Don't worry if they don't have feathers, it's the roosters fault.

 

[racingpigeons98]

Or maybe their just old. I have four, six year old chickens that barely have any feathers. But maybe you could just take out the rooster and give the chickens a brake.

 

[thekid]

Quote:
nope not that old about 2 or 3

 

[racingpigeons98]

If your worried just kill the rooster, because thats the main reason.

 

[Rainbow Dash]

They're probably just molting. Chickens often molt in the summer. I would try a saddle for the hens, it keeps the rooster's spurs from removing feathers.

 

[racingpigeons98]

Yes, its true, maybe their just molting, changing their feathers.

 

[kelar]

Chickens should not be bare of feathers because of age. It is either molting, illness, parasites, feather picking, over mating by the roo or something else. I have some very old hens and their feathers are in excellent shape. If the rooster is young, he will tend to mate more often and the hens probably need something to protect their backs. Or, you could separate the roo for periods of time and give the hens a break. You might try separating the roo and hens and see if their feathers start growing back.