Help My Chickens are Naked Not by Choice

[micheleag2010]

I have 12 hens and a duck. I had 2 roosters. I noticed 4 of the hens had major feather loss on their back, and wings and some even around the vent and chest area. I thought some of it was due to over mating and some might be due to bullying. I got rid of my roosters and none of the feathers have started to grow back. I put saddles on the ones with back feathers missing but I don't know what to do for the rest of the areas. I think they are replucking the bald areas as the feathers grow back because I heard it is really irritating when new feathers are growing back. I guess my question is, does any one have any advice and has anyone come back from the land of nakedness before? There is no blood that I can see, fyi.

 

[aart]

I've had bird go 'naked' for months.....even thru the winter, tho I use winter laying lights so that can screw up the molt.
It bothers us more than them. Eventually they sprout a new set of feathers.
Regardless of why the feathers are lost they won't grow back until a molt (tho feathers fully plucked out will regrow right away).
If you have a bullying/feather eating situation, that needs to be resolved once the cause is determined.
That one girls tail looks awful....watch for infection there...and the bloodiness may attract pecking attention.


Have you checked them over real well for mites and/or lice?
Best done well after dark with a strong flashlight/headlight, easier to 'catch' bird and also to check for the mites that live in structure and only come out at night to feed off roosting birds.
Wipe a white paper towel along the underside of roost to look for red smears(smashed well fed mites).
Part the feathers right down to the skin around vent, head/neck and under wings.
Google images of lice/mites and their eggs before the inspection so you'll know what you're looking for.

I've had some bare butted girls that had no bugs, some had very red skin that lasted for either just a few days or a few weeks but eventually went away, the feathers grew back after the molt. I don't worry about it too much unless I see bugs that need killing then use a poultry dust with permethrin, feathers still won't grow back until a molt tho.