Hen losing feathers from tail to under belly

[messianicmom]

My hen, who is otherwise eating well and not lethargic, has lost feathers, root included, starting with the bottom part of her tail (she still has a few tail feathers sticking up) and moving downward-about 2-3" across- until her belly, where they aren't removed entirely, but there are small feathers there.

Any ideas? Lice, mites? what?

 

[Kevin565]

Could she be molting?

 

[messianicmom]

I don't think so. She's looked like this, more or less, all summer.

 

[Country4ever]

You would see lice and mites. Look closely.
Also, when their lower abdomens are stretched out, they can lose feathers. Is her abdomen enlarged and fluid-filled?

 

[messianicmom]

Her abdomen is large.
We have another chicken who is showing similar symptoms of dry, flaky skin along with losing feathers; but hers is mainly on her back and not down the hind end.

I looked of bugs. I saw blackish/brown specks along with white clumps attached to the skin and base of the feather which I could easily remove.

What does this sound like?

Thanks

 

[Country4ever]

I've only had lice on my chickens and they were easy to see. I'm thinking mites are smaller. Maybe you could get a white piece of paper and try to get some to drop on it, so you could see them better? One thing you could do, without using a chemical, is to use diatomaceous earth or wood ashes and dust the area with them. it suffocates them. If it is mites, you'll need to clean and treat your coop and the probably the other chickens. You should wear a mask if you work with DE.