Hens lost feathers and are sunburnt

[whitcombkathleen]

Hello, 1st time posting 2nd time with chickens. My 1st time I purchased through Myer's Hatchery. This time I thought it would be neat to hatch from a local person's eggs we purchased. -For my granddaughter.
They had a rooster that was all over the hens and they lost their feathers back in the winter. I kept feeding them purina omega 3 and they laid pretty good, but never got their feathers back and this summer they have burnt their backs from being outside in the sun. About 6 weeks ago I switched to nature's feather feed and put a conditioning bag to each bag of feed. The feathers they have are looking better, but they still don't have new feathers. Some look like they may be coming to the surface and getting ready to come out. I have 14 birds and still get 6-9 eggs a day. There are about 6 birds that have hardly any feathers on them. This is nothing like my 1st set of birds. I want to buy 4 more birds. Should I wait until these get their feathers since they will be eating the same feed? And is there something else I should be doing for the hens to get their feathers back on...before winter. It has been at least 6 months!

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

Welcome to BYC!
Feathers need protein to grow. You do not NEED to feed your flock layer feed. Layer feed has less protein and more calcium. You can feed grower or Flock raiser to ALL of your birds.....even your new ones, so getting new ones now is fine. Just be sure to prove oyster sell in a separate container for your layers to eat as needed.
Unfortunately, your chickens will probably not grow new feathers until their annual molt. In the meantime, I would prove some extra protein, like occasional cans of cat food or tuna. Most chickens will molt in the fall to grow new feathers to keep them warm in the winter.
Was all of the feather loss due to an aggressive rooster? Is the rooster still there? If so, I would separate them and give your girls a break. Have you observed feather pecking from any flock mates? If so, applying BLU-Kote is a great solution. It heals the skin and prevents further pecking.
Do you have photos of the hens that you are concerned about.?

 

[drumstick diva]

duplicate thread

 

[rjohns39]

Hi and welcome to BYC We're so happy you've decided to join us

 

[N F C]

Hello again