Hen Losing Feathers! Bad mites?

[Bagel17]

My 1 year old hen, Rosie, is rapidly losing feathers, mostly on her back. She just finished becoming broody, and this is her first "molt" of adulthood. She has overall been pretty healthy, and is a black australorp/ISA brown cross and her parents have no issues. I'm thinking it's bad feather mites, but I see none. My chickens have had mites (black pepper, I believe) and scaly leg before. I treated them all for it, but could never tell if they went away completely.

When I pet Rosie, the feathers all just fall out. I'm concerned if it is a disease or mites that might be contagious to my other chickens. It is not rooster damage. Is this something I can cure?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

How rough is your rooster?

Feather loss is similar to treading damage.
If she's coming out of being broody, often hens goes through a molt, so some of the feathers falling away may be from that.
I see some green tint to a couple of places on her back which would likely indicate bruising, was the rooster treading her while she was brooding?

I see intact feather follicles those won't be replaced unless she molts.

Do you see crawling bugs on her or an accumulation of bugs around the vent, under the wings, etc.?
If you do, then dust her with a Permethrin based poultry dust and spray/dust her housing.

See that she's eating well and drinking.

 

[Bagel17]

How rough is your rooster?

Feather loss is similar to treading damage.
If she's coming out of being broody, often hens goes through a molt, so some of the feathers falling away may be from that.
I see some green tint to a couple of places on her back which would likely indicate bruising, was the rooster treading her while she was brooding?

I see intact feather follicles those won't be replaced unless she molts.

Do you see crawling bugs on her or an accumulation of bugs around the vent, under the wings, etc.?
If you do, then dust her with a Permethrin based poultry dust and spray/dust her housing.

See that she's eating well and drinking.

She was fine before yesterday, when I picked her up and petted her, and then all of her feathers fell out. The rooster has not been sitting on her at all, and I know that it's not rooster damage; the green/dark spots are just her skin because she is dominant white and has black leakage.

I can't see any mites, but it's good to know that the feathers broke off and didn't fall out. That helps me with the conclusion that she does have mites, as I was reading feather mites are so small you cannot really see them and they cause breakage. I will definitely look into Permethrin poultry dust; do you know if diatomaceous earth or non-toxic flea powder for cats will work for this?

I will be monitoring her eating and drinking to make sure she doesn't become lethargic and then the mites take over.

 

[coach723]

I honestly can't tell if I'm seeing broken feather shafts or really small pin feathers coming in. Molt can vary a lot bird to bird and year to year. They do sometimes kind of have a feather explosion and lose a bunch all at once and can look pretty bald. That's considered a hard molt. And sometimes they have soft molts where feathers are lost very gradually and you can't really tell unless you look pretty hard for pin feathers. And anywhere in between those two, all can be normal.
https://www.wideopenpets.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-molting-chickens/

DE is really ineffective, permethrin products are much more effective and usually easy to get your hands on. You will need to treat the birds and the coop if you have mites Try putting some sticky tape around your roosts at the ends, sticky side out, and check in the morning, see if you have any bugs/mites stuck to the tape You can also examine the birds at night with a flashlight (the mites tend to be more active at night) paying particular attention to around the vent and under wings, see if you find any bugs on them.
You can use either powder or spray on the birds (if it's cold where you are then they need to be completely dry before going back out), for the coop, sprays tend to work better, getting into all the nooks and crannies. You will need to treat at least 3 times at weekly intervals, the chemicals kill the bugs but not the eggs, so you have to repeat treatments to get the ones that continue to hatch. Remove all bedding and nesting materials and discard (burn if you can) and replace with fresh. You can also use Elector PSP (spinosad) which is supposed to be effective with just one treatment, but it's much, much more expensive and will likely need to be ordered.
Permethrin is toxic to cats, so if you have cats they need to be kept away from that. Don't know if the flea powder would be effective, depends on what's in it. There are many products that say 'non-toxic' and are herbal based and are not always very effective. Ingredients matter.
Here are a couple of common permethrin products, there are many brands, some are ready to use, some are concentrated and you mix with water according to the label instructions:

 

[Bagel17]

I honestly can't tell if I'm seeing broken feather shafts or really small pin feathers coming in. Molt can vary a lot bird to bird and year to year. They do sometimes kind of have a feather explosion and lose a bunch all at once and can look pretty bald. That's considered a hard molt. And sometimes they have soft molts where feathers are lost very gradually and you can't really tell unless you look pretty hard for pin feathers. And anywhere in between those two, all can be normal.
https://www.wideopenpets.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-molting-chickens/

DE is really ineffective, permethrin products are much more effective and usually easy to get your hands on. You will need to treat the birds and the coop if you have mites Try putting some sticky tape around your roosts at the ends, sticky side out, and check in the morning, see if you have any bugs/mites stuck to the tape You can also examine the birds at night with a flashlight (the mites tend to be more active at night) paying particular attention to around the vent and under wings, see if you find any bugs on them.
You can use either powder or spray on the birds (if it's cold where you are then they need to be completely dry before going back out), for the coop, sprays tend to work better, getting into all the nooks and crannies. You will need to treat at least 3 times at weekly intervals, the chemicals kill the bugs but not the eggs, so you have to repeat treatments to get the ones that continue to hatch. Remove all bedding and nesting materials and discard (burn if you can) and replace with fresh. You can also use Elector PSP (spinosad) which is supposed to be effective with just one treatment, but it's much, much more expensive and will likely need to be ordered.
Permethrin is toxic to cats, so if you have cats they need to be kept away from that. Don't know if the flea powder would be effective, depends on what's in it. There are many products that say 'non-toxic' and are herbal based and are not always very effective. Ingredients matter.
Here are a couple of common permethrin products, there are many brands, some are ready to use, some are concentrated and you mix with water according to the label instructions:
View attachment 3287774
View attachment 3287775

Thanks, this was helpful! I've never heard of soft/hard molts before. Hopefully that's all it is, but I'll check more closely for other signs of mites and maybe try that tape method.

Thanks to @Wyorp Rock as well, I'll keep an eye out for Rosie and see if it is mites or just a hard molt.

 

[Bagel17]

I more closely inspected Rosie today, and found that she is losing feathers all over, and that those bumps are not broken feather shafts, but are small pin feathers coming in. Hard molt it is!
I was concerned because I've never had this extreme of a molt in my chickens, and mites are such a pain to deal with.

 

[coach723]

Keep an eye on her, sometimes it can be hard on them. Make sure she's eating and drinking well. I often will offer a scrambled or cooked chopped up egg a few times a week to those that are having a hard time with molt, something to give a little extra protein. She may do fine, you never know. I've had a few do really hard molts, hard not to feel sorry for them! They also may be testy and standoffish, those new feathers are sensitive.

 

[McChooky]

The fast molters are breeds that lay the most eggs .They lose more feathers at once.
The poorest layers as a rule have a softer molt (lose fewer feathers at once) https://www.gardenbetty.com/why-some-chickens-molt-faster-than-others/

 

[McChooky]

I hope you were able to determine whether your hens have mites or are simply molting (sadly it could be both) Fortunately mites are usually less of a problem in cold weather.
Some go dormant in the winter(scaly mites)

 

[Bagel17]

I hope you were able to determine whether your hens have mites or are simply molting (sadly it could be both) Fortunately mites are usually less of a problem in cold weather.
Some go dormant in the winter(scaly mites)

It was just a hard molt that affected her. None of my other chickens have had mite-looking feather loss since Rosie's molt, and she has grown most of her feathers in again now.

The fast molters are breeds that lay the most eggs .They lose more feathers at once.
The poorest layers as a rule have a softer molt (lose fewer feathers at once) https://www.gardenbetty.com/why-some-chickens-molt-faster-than-others/

That's interesting! Her mother was an ISA brown and father a black Australorp, so it makes sense that she would have a hard molt from her egg-producing lines. I was just so shocked because her mother has never gone through anything like it.