Hen loosing back feathers, stopped laying eggs, became last in pecking order

[Birminghens]

Hello,

I am a new chicken holder and have a flock of 4 hens, all between 25 and 30 weeks old and of various breeds.

One of them use to be on top of the pecking order but things changed suddenly.

Within two weeks, that hen lost her back feathers (just a week after she lay her first eggs).

She became last in pecking order and stopped laying eggs ( she has only been laying eggs for two weeks).

She then lay one egg after 7 days and one more two days after.

That last egg was wobbly and transparent.

All other three hens are in good shape and do not show any signs of loosing feathers, they all lay an egg a day.

I included some pictures and would be very grateful if someone could advice me.

Thanks!

 

[Judy]

Below is a link to a resource about egg problems. It may be she will grow out of this, or she may continue wth this problem. It's common for problems with eggs to occur when they first start laying. You don't mention whether you provide oyster shell on the side, in case some need extra calcium. You could try a Tums in their water once a day, maybe 3 days in one week, to see if the calcium boost helps.

I would check for lice / mites because of the feather loss. Also, be sure they are getting enough protein. Sometimes people give lots of treats which has the effect of cutting down on their protein intake, since treats are not usuallly protein.

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publi...ndbook/16/thinshelled-eggs-and-shellless-eggs

http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html

 

[Birminghens]

Thanks for your reply.

I just washed the whole coop with anti mite spray so hopefully no mites will stay. Regarding the feeding, they get special organic layer pellets and normal kitchen waste. I realized that even two more hens start loosing their back feather likewise, on of them is even quite black on the skin, I could not identify what the black color was though. The strange thing is that they all look perfectly happy and healthy.

Could it be a natural process which hens go through as they are growing?

Thanks