Flock losing crop and thigh feathers?

lauranickerson

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First off, this isn't an emergency (at least I hope not).

So I've got my flock down to one rooster and 20 hens, plus 3 hen ducks (the drake duck is in the garage with a few battle wounds, as I believe he was taking advantage of all the girls (all species) and my new rooster that got introduced a week or so ago didn't like that very much). Yet the chicken hens are losing feathers in the weirdest places: their crop area and thighs. I don't think it's molt, because I know a few of them already went through it in the fall/winter. It's like they are broken halfway down, at least on their thighs. The thigh feathers are down to the fluff, sort of like the butt fluff. And when they are roosting at night, I can actually see their skin through their sparse feathers when their crops are full.

Any idea what is causing this? It's a weird place for the feathers to be lost from mating, and I can't find a bug on them for the life of me (I have never had pests on them before). Should I try more protein in case they are picking out their own/each other's feathers for the protein?

Any suggestions would be great! Thank you!

PS: I could take pictures if needed, I just didn't have my phone on me. I've been noticing this for about a week now, though.
 
It sounds like they might be plucking their own feathers and eating them, or you have feather pickers in your flock. Purchase gamebird feed which is higher in protein than regular layer feed and give it to them for a month and see if there's improvement. Then wean them off the gamebird feed back to layer feed. If feathers are still being plucked, it's feather pickers and you'll have to get rid of them.
 
I will give that a try.

I usually feed them sunflower seeds but haven't for about a month or so. Do you think these two things go hand-in-hand because of the loss of protein?
 
Just caught one of my Khaki Campbell duck hens picking on one of the hens in the exact spot they are losing feathers! Gah!

Is there no way to correct the behavior, because those two ducks are probably the best layers out of my whole flock, ducks AND chickens!
 
I also just read the Guide to Broody Hens link on the homepage. A few of my heritage breeds are loosing their breast (I called them crop...same place) feathers, but they are down to the skin...pulled right out. The other places, they are broken as if they are being bitten and messed with.

I have caught my Australorps on the nests more, and they are the ones that have lost the most breast/crop feathers. Could they be pulling them out because they feel broody?
 

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