Help!! 9 week old LF Cochins missing feathers.

[Mitchell'sCoop]

I recently added four 9 week old LF Cochins to my flock. After getting them home I noticed 3 of them are missing a ton of feathers on their rear ends. (One is a roo and the other two are pullets, only one of the four seem to have all their feathers). I'm very new to chickens but checked for any fleas or mites and do not see any signs of them on the birds. They all seem to eat and drink just fine and seem completely healthy. I have just introduced them to the rest of the flock and the new birds have had a couple bouts of grabbing onto the others feathers and not letting go. I know they have to go through and establish the new pecking order and such, the incidents haven't been too bad and there hasn't been any feather loss. I have noticed the new birds tend to peck at each other sometimes where they are missing the feathers (the little roo is missing the most). Is this possibly due to feather picking/plucking, mini moulting, bullies within their old flock? I'm not sure what I can do to help them grow their feathers back or if it was a bully at the old home doing it to them will it become a learned behavior, will they continue to do it to all the other birds? Any advice? Thanks so much for any help you can give!!

 

[Kathryn173]

I would keep an eye on the bird with feathers to make sure it isn't the one doing the picking. It could just have become a habit from boredom or overcrowding rather than a deficiency.

 

[Kiki]

Oh my..I am sorry..I totally missed their age.
I would say to double check at night time with a flash light for mites then.

 

[Mitchell'sCoop]

Oh my..I am sorry..I totally missed their age.
I would say to double check at night time with a flash light for mites then.

Its no problem, I was thinking they were too young for that to be an issue just yet. I hope it's not mites as none of mine have anything like that and I've just introduced them all together a couple days ago. I'll check them out tonight and see if I can find anything on them.

 

[Kiki]

If you do happen to find mites, get some permethrin spray.
It works great.
Here is a ready to use kind.
There is a permethrin concentrate that has to be mixed with water that is also popular.

Martin's PERMETHRIN spray

• Kiki
• Mar 22, 2018
• 6
• flies lice mites permethrin

Martin's Horse & Stable Permethrin Spray

• Kiki
• Mar 22, 2018
• flies lice mites permethrin

Permethrin

 

[Kiki]

It is probably just feather picking from previous place then.

 

[chickendreams24]

If the roo is the same age as the 9 week pullets then he is a cockeral not a rooster. Pullets become hens at 1 year and similarly cockerals become roosters at a year.

I would also double check for lice and mites. If the chicks were in with sexually mature cockerals or roosters their feather loss could be a sign of having been repeatedly dominated.

Are there any pics feathers coming in on the bare spots?

Feather pickers often learn the behavior from other birds or develop it if they aren't getting proper nutrition.

What are you feeding them?

Did I miss where you said how long you've had them? Did you quarantine them?

You could try putting some chicken saddles on them to cover the bald spots and give them so time to regrow feathers. Only after you are certain they don't have external parasites.

 

[Mitchell'sCoop]

If you do happen to find mites, get some permethrin spray.
It works great.
Here is a ready to use kind.
There is a permethrin concentrate that has to be mixed with water that is also popular.

Martin's PERMETHRIN spray

• Kiki
• Mar 22, 2018
• 6
• flies lice mites permethrin

Martin's Horse & Stable Permethrin Spray

• Kiki
• Mar 22, 2018
• flies lice mites permethrin

Permethrin

Thank you so much!! I'll definitely take a close look tonight and see if I can find anything.

 

[Mitchell'sCoop]

If the roo is the same age as the 9 week pullets then he is a cockeral not a rooster. Pullets become hens at 1 year and similarly cockerals become roosters at a year.

I would also double check for lice and mites. If the chicks were in with sexually mature cockerals or roosters their feather loss could be a sign of having been repeatedly dominated.

Are there any pics feathers coming in on the bare spots?

Feather pickers often learn the behavior from other birds or develop it if they aren't getting proper nutrition.

What are you feeding them?

Did I miss where you said how long you've had them? Did you quarantine them?

You could try putting some chicken saddles on them to cover the bald spots and give them so time to regrow feathers. Only after you are certain they don't have external parasites.

We have had them a little over a week. I had them in a separate area for a week before introducing them to the rest of the flock. Wondering if I should have given more time apart now. Their feathers are starting to come back in some now. They are currently on a 22% protein feed since being in my care. (I'll take a better pic of the feathers coming in on them and post in a second.

 

[Mitchell'sCoop]

If the roo is the same age as the 9 week pullets then he is a cockeral not a rooster. Pullets become hens at 1 year and similarly cockerals become roosters at a year.

I would also double check for lice and mites. If the chicks were in with sexually mature cockerals or roosters their feather loss could be a sign of having been repeatedly dominated.

Are there any pics feathers coming in on the bare spots?

Feather pickers often learn the behavior from other birds or develop it if they aren't getting proper nutrition.

What are you feeding them?

Did I miss where you said how long you've had them? Did you quarantine them?

You could try putting some chicken saddles on them to cover the bald spots and give them so time to regrow feathers. Only after you are certain they don't have external parasites.

All 4 of them are the same age (9 - 10 weeks old now) here are pics of their feathers coming in. Do they seem to be growing in properly?