Half-eaten feathers - mites or other chickens doing it?

[mholm]

Our handsome black australorp is looking tattered. Examining her, feathers on her back and sides look half-cut off, or have they been eaten? This is the top half that are gone. We can't see any mites or any irritation on her skin.

Her neck also has bare patches but we thought this was from getting under the garden netting to get the good greens. Now we are not so sure. She isn't bullied that we can see, but could someone or something be chewing her feathers in the coop? About 40 feathers look like they have the top half cut off.

No blood, only tatty looking grey feathers. When we think back, her feathers have looked this way for several months. We thought she was molting but something is going on.

 

[Chicks Galore3]

I had the exact same thing happen - it was (er, is) mites. In fact, today I am going to go clean the coop, scrub it down, and dunk the chickens in a mite bath. You can look around BYC for different methods for defeating mites to see which one works for you.