Hens losing tail feathers molting, mites or lice?

[Knoodles]

I have 8 Golden Comets and 4 Rhode Island Red hens. They are just a little over 3 months old and several of them have lost their pretty tail feathers that fan out. Is this normal molt since we have had some warmer weather now, up in the mid to upper 80's or so? I am a newbie with raising chickens. We had them when I was growing up but I never had to worry about anything but feeding and gathering eggs.

 

[americana-lover]

One of my 5 hens is molting right now, and she is a hard molter, so her tail feathers are gone. She gets really embarrassed about herself when she molts, she just stays in the coop, not in the free range area. I would think your chickens are molting also, if they had mites you would be able to see them if you closely examine their feather.

 

[silkiechicken]

Three months old. I'd say they be getting all dressed up into their big girls clothes. You can inspect for lice and and mites, but I'm going to say... molting ain't pretty. LOL

 

[Knoodles]

They all seem happy and they aren't overly preening. I am anxiously awaiting our first egg!