Hens loosing feathers (Picture)

[SouthCoastEasterEgger]

I have four backyard Easter Egger hens that are now just under a year old (hatched last April). No roosters. I just noticed this week that two of the hens are missing some feathers on the underside of their neck, just under their head. And one chicken is missing a large patch of feathers directly on her back (Picture attached). Any ideas of what this could be?

 

[chickens really]

Mites, lice, pecking/ feather eating?...How big is the Coop and Run?

 

[SouthCoastEasterEgger]

The coop is about 5x3' with an 8x8' run

 

[sourland]

'Someone' is feather plucking/eating. It is generally the bird that remains in perfect condition. Do an on site search on Pin Less Peepers - they can help break this bad habit.

 

[chickens really]

The coop is about 5x3' with an 8x8' run

You only have 4 chickens in total?

 

[Redhead Rae]

What type of food are you feeding? They could need more protein. The first winter we had chickens, I had a lot of trouble with feather picking. We switched my entire flock to 19% grower/broiler (with calcium on the side) and the picking stopped. My birds also molted much quicker this year, with none of them going through a hard molt (where they were almost naked).

 

[SouthCoastEasterEgger]

You only have 4 chickens in total?

Yes, just the four hens. We had one rooster but we have close neighbors and we didn't want to bother them with the crowing.

 

[SouthCoastEasterEgger]

What type of food are you feeding? They could need more protein. The first winter we had chickens, I had a lot of trouble with feather picking. We switched my entire flock to 19% grower/broiler (with calcium on the side) and the picking stopped. My birds also molted much quicker this year, with none of them going through a hard molt (where they were almost naked).

I've always fed them Kalmbach Layer Crumbles with Oyster Shells since they started laying

 

[Redhead Rae]

I've always fed them Kalmbach Layer Crumbles with Oyster Shells since they started laying

The 16% or 17% protein one?

I honestly find 16-17% protein to be a little low and prefer 18-20% for my flock.