Help with molt or mites?

[Annie1111]

I have an older hen that I rescued years ago. So I have no idea her true age. She has stopped laying eggs for about 2 years now though. This past fall she Molted late and never seemed to recover. We are now into December north east hemisphere. And this is what she looks like. Am I dealing with mites? Or illness? Just this week she is extremely lethargic as well as it has. Suddenly turned much colder here. I’ve been giving her the occasional scrambled egg for a few weeks. And see no improvement. The the shafts are bare and flakey with a normal feather end at the tips. Her skin doesn’t appear to be irritated and I have had her indoors now for 24 hours and she is not overly pecking or preening. Any thoughts as to what I’m dealing with.

 

[PirateGirl]

Those look like new feathers that haven't fully opened up. Perhaps giving her access to a good dust bath for a few days would get her rolling around and help the feathers out a bit and entice her to preen a bit more.

 

[Annie1111]

So are you saying. Hens need to preen at the sheath in a way? And this helps the feathers emerge? I suppose I don’t know how molt really works.

 

[SBFChickenGirl]

She's just growing new feathers. Looks like she had a hard molt too. The sheath is like the chicken equivalent of dandruff. Let her take a good bath and she'll be great.

 

[PirateGirl]

Usually the sheath breaks apart and comes off before it gets as long as it is seen on your bird, so yes, more preening and a bath should help take care of it. The sheath just needs to break apart and fall off.