Help with hen plucking feathers - PHOTOS included

[simplegirl1970]

Hello,

I have been researching on this site for a couple of weeks, but can't figure out what's going on. We have 4 hens and one (named Golda) is having major issues with plucking. We don't know what to do to help her. Can you help us this from continuing? Here are some facts:

* At first we thought she was doing it herself, but now we see one of the hens being aggressive towards her.

* We do not have a rooster.

* Her vent and feathers below are also often dirty.

* Her backside is plucked clean to the skin on both sides (see 1st picture) as well as part of her breast area.

* Her back feathers are broken off in many places (see 2nd picture).

* We do not see signs of lice or mites.

* She used to sleep on the floor and not roost at night until about 2 weeks ago when rearranged the coop.

We love our 4 hens like pets! Please help us figure this out. Thank you so much!

 

[TeamChaos]

Huh. Her skin looks nice and healthy... the feather breakage on her back does look like rooster wear (but without spur damage) and you mentioned you don't have a rooster anyway. Any chance another, more dominant hen is mounting her and breaking feathers in the process? I would do two things- first, I'd get blue kote and spray any visible skin w/ it. It helps to take away the allure of shiny pink skin to peck at for the other chickens. Then I'd make sure she had access to a clean spot to dust bathe in- taking luxurious dust baths can help cure a variety of feather aliment! Best of luck to you and your flock!

 

[simplegirl1970]

Thank you for your quick response.

What is blue kote? I've seen it mentioned here before. Does it taste bad to the chickens and make them stop? Is that something I can get at Fleet Farm?

We do have a hen who can be a meanie. Anyway to stop her from pickin on Golda?

 

[simplegirl1970]

Oh. Also wondering if it has something to do with roosting. The hens seem to like a spot next to the wall on the roost and tend to fight over that spot at dusk. We tried making additional roosting spots but all four like that one spot.

 

[TeamChaos]

http://www.fleetfarm.com/catalog/ca...r-naylor-blu-kote-topical-germicide-fungicide It's not so much the taste as it is the color, the blue doesn't look nearly as interesting as naked pink chicken skin.

As for the mean hen, they call it a "pecking order" for a reason! In my experience, there aren't a lot of ways to reform a bully hen and, for the most part, chickens will strike a balance amongst themselves but someone else might have a bossy hen boot camp regime they can share.

Usually roosts that are close to the wall result in lost tail feathers on top, from rubbing. The drama over the prime spot might be the cause of some random lost or broken feathers, but I can't really see how it'd match her specific feather loss. Also, I've got plenty of lovely roosts in the coop and all the ladies fight over the same two prime spots every. single. nite! Amazing!