I am at a loss for what to do about one of my 4 hens, who seems to be plucking her own feathers. It's been going on for several weeks now and her back, right above and around the primary tail feathers, is completely naked despite lots of attempted remedies. All hens were raised together as chicks and are entering their 4th summer. They have a large (500-600? sf) outdoor run, and an enclosed coop that is about 48 sf.
The affected hen had a HARD molt this winter (poor timing, poor thing) and looked shabby for ages, but was otherwise behaving normal. As the rest of her feathers began to fill back out in February, the area around her tail feathers (lower saddle area) just wasn't filling in. For a while I suspected that other hens might have been picking on her as we have a lot of rivalry in our small flock. We started applying 'Pick No More' lotion every few days for a week (no change). After observing her more closely it became clear that she was worrying the area a lot herself. She was pulling feathers off her legs and eating them, too. This suggested to us that it might be a dietary or stress response. We started feeding all of the girls extra protein and Feather Fixer feed over a month ago. At the same time we also added electrolytes to their water (Flockleader Recover Plus). Everyone started to seem perkier and lay more, but that could have just been the changing season and longer days.
So, here we are, weeks later, and the affected hen still has a naked rump (picts from today). I don't even see any good pin feathers coming in. At least she doesn't seem to be pulling feathers on her legs anymore. I have never seen any other hens picking on her rump, so I'm 99% sure she's doing all of this to herself. None of the other hens are behaving similarly (picking or itching), so I don't suspect mites.
What would you do? Will her feathers ever grow back? Or is there danger of permanent damage if she keeps this up?
Thanks for any advice!
The affected hen had a HARD molt this winter (poor timing, poor thing) and looked shabby for ages, but was otherwise behaving normal. As the rest of her feathers began to fill back out in February, the area around her tail feathers (lower saddle area) just wasn't filling in. For a while I suspected that other hens might have been picking on her as we have a lot of rivalry in our small flock. We started applying 'Pick No More' lotion every few days for a week (no change). After observing her more closely it became clear that she was worrying the area a lot herself. She was pulling feathers off her legs and eating them, too. This suggested to us that it might be a dietary or stress response. We started feeding all of the girls extra protein and Feather Fixer feed over a month ago. At the same time we also added electrolytes to their water (Flockleader Recover Plus). Everyone started to seem perkier and lay more, but that could have just been the changing season and longer days.
So, here we are, weeks later, and the affected hen still has a naked rump (picts from today). I don't even see any good pin feathers coming in. At least she doesn't seem to be pulling feathers on her legs anymore. I have never seen any other hens picking on her rump, so I'm 99% sure she's doing all of this to herself. None of the other hens are behaving similarly (picking or itching), so I don't suspect mites.
What would you do? Will her feathers ever grow back? Or is there danger of permanent damage if she keeps this up?
Thanks for any advice!
