Hen rapidly losing feathers!

[piper2009]

Hi,

My hen (Rosemary) has started losing LOTS of her feathers at a time. When you pick her up, handfulls of feathers just fall right off of her. I though she may be going through a hard molt but I am not sure. She has had hard molts before but it just doesn't seem like she should be molting in the last part of June. She is a 7 year old EE which free ranges all day in case that helps anyone. Also, I checked her for mites and she has a pretty good amount of them. Could this be causing a molt? If so can anyone recommend a good mite killer?

Thank you very much,
Piper

 

[piper2009]

Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[dawg53]

Dust her thoroughly with sevin dust, avoid the eyes and nostrils. Redust her again in 7-10 days. Dust inside of the coop, nests and roosts as well. Redust again in 7-10 days. Inspect your other birds for lice/mites, and dust accordingly.

 

[piper2009]

Thank you for the advice! Where can I get sevin dust? Feedstore?

 

[redpepper]

I have the same problem I think. 7 out of the 9 hens I have are losing or have lost a lot of their feathers. At first I thought the rooster was getting a little ruff because on their backs the feathers are gone or thinned out. They also have bald butts. I have sprayed with Manna Pro Poultry spray and sprayed the coop with this. I've also tried yogurt, spoiled milk and cottage cheese (a little). Thinking their feces was too acidic. I see fluff and that's about all. I hate to see them going into the colder months with no feathers. I see someone suggested Sevin Dust. I don't like the thought of a pesticide on my chickens. Any other ideas out their?
redpepper

 

[piper2009]

I have the same problem I think. 7 out of the 9 hens I have are losing or have lost a lot of their feathers. At first I thought the rooster was getting a little ruff because on their backs the feathers are gone or thinned out. They also have bald butts. I have sprayed with Manna Pro Poultry spray and sprayed the coop with this. I've also tried yogurt, spoiled milk and cottage cheese (a little). Thinking their feces was too acidic. I see fluff and that's about all. I hate to see them going into the colder months with no feathers. I see someone suggested Sevin Dust. I don't like the thought of a pesticide on my chickens. Any other ideas out their?
redpepper

I don't like using pesticides on my chickens either so I am also looking for a more natural way to do it. I have used DE before and it works pretty well but I am looking for other natural ways of dusting for mites. Redpepper may work but I am not sure. I know the wormer I use for the girls has red pepper in it so it helps kill worms but I have no clue what it does to mites. Can anyone recommend a good natural mite killer???

~Piper

 

[dawg53]

Mites will cause anemia in a chicken if not properly treated, then death. The inside of the coop, roosts and nests need to be treated as well. Birds and coops need to be treated at least twice to kill external parasites to end their lifecycle. Guesswork using ineffective organic methods jeopardizes the health of your chickens. Same with dogs, cats, humans: Sometimes chemical use is the only way to go to save our pets and ourselves. Here's a link where a member used organics for worming. The end result was a dead chicken... an official necropsy confirmed that internal parasites weakened the birds immune system and opened the door for other diseases to invade the chickens system.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=576036
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=576245