flock looking rough

[cortner1195]

We have eleven hens and one rooster in the main coop, and six 7-8 week olds in the grow out pen that is attached to the main run. My laying hens have mostly all molted this spring. I have one hen that most of the feathers across her back appear to be broken off about half way down the length of each feather. It seems a bit worse every day. I also have one hen that has a bare reddened area on her right chest that has never re gained feathers, even though (I believe) that she already had her molt. This area has been bare since sometime last year. The skin is not broken, and no sign of infection. The remainder of the hens look rough. Some seem to be starting another molt. For eleven hens egg production has dropped off to only three eggs today.

1) they usually get Feather Fixer feed, plus free range time daily
2) husband brought home two bags of another brand of "chicken food" a custom mix by a small grain mill months ago, and mixed it into their usual feed
3) food consumption has dropped off the last couple months or so
4) they appear to be hungry, but not starving, they eat well during free range time
5) They don't appear sick in any other way. Interactions in the flock seem stable, stools look fine, no diarrhea, no bleeding
6) they seem light weight
7) activity level seems normal
8) several hens have bare spots from mating issues, again no infections

Note: We have spotted mice in the coop at night. They can even get up into the nest boxes. Could the mice be attacking the chickens at night?

Tonight I gave them some full fat cottage cheese, added straight feather fixer grain to the feeder, and gave them fresh greens, and strawberries. They ate all of it.

I am worried about the mice. I would have thought the chickens would have taken care of them. If it is mice attacking and harming the feathers we will close the door to the run at night. That should keep them out. I think the mice enter the coop at night once the chickens are roosted. There is one mouse that likes to get into the nest boxes even during the day. There is not sign of broken eggs.

If it is a protein issue, I have a leftover bag of meat bird food by Nutrena that I could supplement with.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Judy]

Definitely, get rid of the mice, for several reasons. They will only get more numerous. Then you can reassess and see if anythign else needs to be done.

 

[NotableNancy]

A few of your issues sound like mine...

The bare reddened area I was told could be from the hen plucking it out themselves a little each time they lay an egg and it's reddened because of it rubbing on the roost. Made sense to me. You could try wrapping a towel on the roost so it's not so rough on the chest.

I have a Cochin with the broken feathers like you mention. I don't have a rooster so it's not that and I never see her getting picked on. I have a camera in there so I can see them even though they don't see me and have never seen a problem. I still don't know what it is and really thought there was some kind of invisible feather mite doing it. Absolutely no mites or lice on mine. I assume you checked for that?


bad pic but here's what mine looks like. It continually got worse and then saw feathers like this:


(ignore the purple, I tried blue kote)
Do you see this?

Well, she finally started molting so all the feathers are falling out and new ones are coming in so I still don't know what it is/was.
I tried washing in sulfur dip, Sevin for lice or mites, blue kote, Feather fixer food and Eprinex for internal/external parasites.

How about worming? maybe that's the cause of the decreased egg production and eating so much but not putting on weight?

Just a few ideas for you.
I do hope you find a solution. But I agree about the mice. They sound like they have to go.

 

[cortner1195]

Thanks, will try worming. The rest sounds like what we are doing.

 

[cortner1195]

I have been giving the hens some cottage cheese every day for increased protein. Egg production has increased dramatically. However today we found one of our favorite hens laying in the run with her head down. We brought her up to the house. She is calm, alert, looking around, her nose, and eyes are clear. We were able to examine her thoroughly. No mites. Maybe too calm??? Her crop wasn't tight, or empty. It was easy to feel, but not hard. Her abdomen is soft, and not uncomfortable to palpation. She passed a large watery stool while in a box in the garage. She was standing and looking around, so we brought her back to the coop.
Tonight she is laying in a corner of the coop with her head down. No one is bothering her. I believe she laid an egg today. As we got 12 eggs from 11 hens. One may have laid at dark last night.

Any thoughts??

 

[Jrose]

I've noticed feather loss mostly due to pecking order and mating. Habitual breeding causes bare "shoulders" where the roosters feet hold on. This only gets worse between molts. I've also noticed baldness around the comb where the rooster may hold on with his beak. Hens establishing and enforcing pecking order may rip out tufts of feathers, though usually the tail feathers. I've never had a feather picking bird, but I would think that if you had a bird eating feathers you've got a dietary imbalance.

When I get rescue or adopted hens in rough shape (LOTS of missing feathers/bald areas), it takes one, two, or three molts for the feathers to totally normalize, depending on how bad of condition they were in.

Mice would not attack a chicken to my knowledge, nor would they eat feathers off a live bird. Though they are a sanitation problem. What are the conditions of the coop? Are the mice there because there's feed available, or are they there because they're warm? If it's feed, remove the free feed. Feed only by hand outside of the coop. Keep the coop tidy and less inviting to the mice. Maybe get a cat? I've never had mouse problems with my chickens, so I don't know on that one...

 

[Jrose]

The only hens I've had 'droopy' like that were dealing with internal infections. 2 died from internal laying, 1 died from a dog attack that crushed several ribs and caused infection. I take a natural approach with my birds, keep an eye on them to make sure they're not suffering too much. If it's to the point where her head is flopped down and she'd not moving then it might be bad.

I had one hen go from seemingly perfectly normal to dead in 2 days from internal laying. I opened the coop one day and she was laying in the box with her head on the ground. Soon her comb turned purple and she was gasping for breath. She died in the house the next night, and in her death throws expelled what was more or less a mess of feces and yolk, and the house stunk of rotten eggs. The other hen would laid eggs every now and again, but was still internally laying. She struggled with on and off infection for awhile and just died suddenly and recently. She too would poop yolk and stink of egg at times.

Granted, I knew these birds weren't contagious, so I didn't treat it by isolating them. I let them continue as long as they could walk, eat, drink, and seem at peace. Thankfully they all went down hard and fast, rather than drawing it out in misery.

Keep an eye on your girl. Doesn't sound promising, but hopefully she turns around.

 

[cortner1195]

I've noticed feather loss mostly due to pecking order and mating. Habitual breeding causes bare "shoulders" where the roosters feet hold on. This only gets worse between molts. I've also noticed baldness around the comb where the rooster may hold on with his beak. Hens establishing and enforcing pecking order may rip out tufts of feathers, though usually the tail feathers. I've never had a feather picking bird, but I would think that if you had a bird eating feathers you've got a dietary imbalance.

When I get rescue or adopted hens in rough shape (LOTS of missing feathers/bald areas), it takes one, two, or three molts for the feathers to totally normalize, depending on how bad of condition they were in.

Mice would not attack a chicken to my knowledge, nor would they eat feathers off a live bird. Though they are a sanitation problem. What are the conditions of the coop? Are the mice there because there's feed available, or are they there because they're warm? If it's feed, remove the free feed. Feed o4'x6' nly by hand outside of the coop. Keep the coop tidy and less inviting to the mice. Maybe get a cat? I've never had mouse problems with my chickens, so I don't know on that one...

They are in a 4' by 8' coop. We use a deep bedding method with pine shavings. The floor under the bedding is linoleum tile. We completely cleaned it out in the last two weeks. And it gets raked daily. They have a hanging feeder, but dry food gets on the floor. I'm sure that is why the mice are coming in. If I try to feed them outside they compete almost immediately with wild turkeys and a couple deer. They know the food is there and they stay near by. The other night I was tearing up some old bread for the hens, and I lifted my head, and a full grown doe was standing within five feet of me.
Most of the missing feathers are at the center of the back, and the base of the tail. They have missing areas on the backs of their legs, and neck/head area that seem to be from mating. He certainly has his favorites! Worry over the hens picking on each other is why I have been supplementing with cottaqe cheese, and other protein sources. I will hold off on that for now to see if this hen comes out of her funk.
Time will tell.
We are going to worm them.

 

[cortner1195]

The only hens I've had 'droopy' like that were dealing with internal infections. 2 died from internal laying, 1 died from a dog attack that crushed several ribs and caused infection. I take a natural approach with my birds, keep an eye on them to make sure they're not suffering too much. If it's to the point where her head is flopped down and she'd not moving then it might be bad.

I had one hen go from seemingly perfectly normal to dead in 2 days from internal laying. I opened the coop one day and she was laying in the box with her head on the ground. Soon her comb turned purple and she was gasping for breath. She died in the house the next night, and in her death throws expelled what was more or less a mess of feces and yolk, and the house stunk of rotten eggs. The other hen would laid eggs every now and again, but was still internally laying. She struggled with on and off infection for awhile and just died suddenly and recently. She too would poop yolk and stink of egg at times.

Granted, I knew these birds weren't contagious, so I didn't treat it by isolating them. I let them continue as long as they could walk, eat, drink, and seem at peace. Thankfully they all went down hard and fast, rather than drawing it out in misery.

Keep an eye on your girl. Doesn't sound promising, but hopefully she turns around.

I worried about her being egg bound. She has a nice soft texture when I palpate her. She doesn't appear to be in pain. I have never seen a chicken enjoy being rubbed so much.

She is up walking around this morning. But wont take any treats from us. We will see how she does.

 

[NotableNancy]

I worried about her being egg bound. She has a nice soft texture when I palpate her. She doesn't appear to be in pain. I have never seen a chicken enjoy being rubbed so much.

She is up walking around this morning. But wont take any treats from us. We will see how she does.

Maybe read up on egg bound if that's what you suspect? I have never had it in my flock but I believe I've read to give them a warm bath and calcium? Sounds like she may enjoy the bath.
Keep us posted.