Hen losing feathers on red belly, feathers black at base

[DotConnector]

My hen, Hazel, is maybe 3 years old and a Gingernut Ranger and had lost some of the feathers on her head near her comb awhile ago, but it didn't seem to get worse, not did it get better. This week things have gotten worse and I got my husband to catch her so I could check her body.

I could not believe her belly; it is red, her feathers are black at the base and falling out. YUCK. What is going on. I treated her for mites, but my other hen has none of the feather loss or skin irritation, so it didn't seem logical for one hen to have mites and not the other. They sleep together.

I think she is laying once in a while, but it has been over 100 degrees for 66 days this summer, so I expected slower egg production. She eats and drinks and seems otherwise normal.

Any advice please??!!

Thanks,

Wendy
Novice hen owner

P.S. I am not certain she is laying. It is hard to tell who is responsible for each egg.

 

[chickenlady]

Looks like alot of new feathers on the bottom there unless I am seeing wrong. Could she be molting right now?

Also, on another note, it is entirely possible for one hen to be infested with mites and another one not be even though they sleep together.

 

[DotConnector]

I guess those are new feathers. I am so unfamiliar with this. I just don't know enough. Her belly is so red and things look the same on her behind up until you are under her tail feathers. Her skin isn't red under her tail, just on her belly.

They have never molted as long as I have had them 18 months, but her head has looked that way for many months. it just looks worse now.

HEre is a bigger image:

 

[chickcritty]

It looks like new feathers coming in to me too.

 

[Eggs4Sale]

If she was molting, wouldn't she have new feathers coming in on her head? I don't know.

The feathers missing on the belly would be normal if she's been broody. I can't think of any reason for the feathers to be missing from the back of her head, and ONLY HER head, and not the other hens' heads. If a roo did it to her that way, it seems he would do it to all of them that way.

 

[chickenlady]

Ok, lets do a little question and answer. Do you have any roos with this girl? you say you treated for mites, what did you use? please explain your treatment. Where do the birds live? Do they freerange more than their time in a coop? What type of bedding do you have in your coop?

Im sure your chickens have molted before. Sometimes you just dont notice. Other times, they have a real hard molt and they look bald.

 

[Whirlwind]

I had a RIR that had feathers missing off of her neck for a long time(months). Don't know how she lost them. When she

molted they grew back. Those are new feathers growing in on her Belly. Looks like she is molting to me and the day light

hours growing shorter is what throws them into molting. Sometimes they look pitiful while molting and are almost all

bare. Some molt more slowly and you really don't notice.

edited to add: All the feathers don't grow back in at the same rate. The RIR I had took a long time to regrow her feathers.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Roos can and do play favourite with the girls. Just as some women are generally considered sexier than others by men, some hens are considered sexier by the roos. What makes a hen sexy? Who knows, but some girls rarely get touched in a flock and others are favourites.

Ditto with mites and lice. Some birds are tastier than others.

It is entirely possible for rooster worn feathers, mites/lice and a molt/feather re-growth to all be going on at once.

 

[DotConnector]

Thanks you guys. To answer some of your very good questions:

1. No Roos, just my two RIR hens.

2. They are free range, but sleep in a small two hen coop. There is NO vegetation in our yard because of the record breaking drought in Austin. Seriously, just dirt, although we feed them veggie scraps and turn over rocks so they can hunt bugs.

3. I use pine shavings in the coop, but i am out, so any suggestions for better bedding is welcome.

4. I used Permethrin powder on her, but I suspect my husband didn't do a through job on the coop.

Anything else I am missing. If this is molting; it is ugly. Her skin just looked so red. Do they stop laying while molting? My egg production is SO slow, BUT would you lay eggs in 104 degrees for weeks on end? I wouldn't!

 

[chickenlady]

Molting will most definately slow if not stop egg production. The girl in the picture is on the back side of molting now. Some added protein will help her feathers come in quicker. As for the redness, she may have had mites prior to treating her with the powder, if so, that can cause severe redness. The powder itself can irritate the skin and cause redness. The fact that she had no feathers on that area for a little bit could have aloud for irritation to occur from laying in the dirt. If she layed in her own feces for a while it could cause the redness in that area. Keep an eye out for mites and lice. Re powder them 10 after the first dusting to kill anything that may have hatched since. Other than that, give some extra protein and some time. It can take 2 months for a molt to finish.