Hi all! I have a funny situation with one of my Araucana hens.
For the second season in a row, she seems to be plucking out her own neck feathers. They regrew after her molt this season, and she was nicely feathered for just a month or so before she started doing it again. Also, this hen is currently having issues with laying soft-shelled eggs at night off of the roost. Sheesh.
Here are some details about the situation:
For the second season in a row, she seems to be plucking out her own neck feathers. They regrew after her molt this season, and she was nicely feathered for just a month or so before she started doing it again. Also, this hen is currently having issues with laying soft-shelled eggs at night off of the roost. Sheesh.
Here are some details about the situation:
- I have a backyard flock of four.
- They have plenty of space in the hen house and free range in a big yard all-day.
- No rooster.
On the Feather Issue: - I have never seen any of the other hens pick on her. She's low - but not at the bottom - in the pecking order.
- I have checked her over and over for mites... none to be seen. I treated all hens and the coop last season. No change. Although this remains on the table as a possibility. Any advice here would be great if you think this might be the problem.
- I HAVE seen her (many times) aggressively preening her own neck. See the pic of her neck. This is the look she sports 3/4 of the year. It's not molting. She makes a very low grumble noise when preening her neck. Like the noise one would make if you were scratching a good itch! It would be funny if she didn't look so pitiful!
On the Egg Issue: - They eat a balanced organic layer feed, but as mentioned... may not eat a lot because of the free range thing.
- I give them mealworms as treats every day to get them into the coop - but nothing excessive.
- I give them free-choice oyster shells and plain yogurt as a treat for calcium. Hasn't seemed to help her eggs.
- Poultry Cell in the water, at the moment.
- A persistently broody hen took over the fave nesting box (they have three accessible) for three weeks or so when the egg issue started. Wondering if this stress threw her off?
- She acts totally normal otherwise! Very healthy seeming. Eats, scratches, dustbathes, etc.