how can you tell if chickens are moulting? **PICS ADDED**

[chichimama5]

my hen gertie has that too on her wing and above her tail~i dont think shes a feather picker does blukote help?~~what do i do????????help!!

 

[ibpboo]

How are everyone's chickens doing that started this post? What did you do to help them?
chichimama- is your hen in with others? maybe try separating her until some one has an answer for you, good luck!!

 

[violetrose]

Mine have the bare sots too. I can't see any mites. I even read about some that only come out at night and went out there and examined with a flashlight, and could see nothing. Are mites visible? What would they look like? We have no roosters, and none of the chickens are pecking each other, so that can't be it. And, out of my 6 hens, one has NO missing feathers, and oneonly has a small patch. If it was mites, I would think it would affect the whole flock...?

Can a particularly hard winter affect moulting? Just wondering, because we had the worst winter ever.

Also, if this is moulting, how long does it last? My chickens have had this for nearly 2 months now. I don't see much sign of any regrowth, but I don't know exactly what to look for; we are new to chickens.

 

[Farm Frenzy]

My girls looked like that because the rooster was mating them so much that it wore the feathers off their backs. I had to get them saddles and now the feathers are growing back.

 

[newchickmom]

I have about 6 hens that still look like that and a couple of them worse. I also have a few who are finally getting their feathers back. I think the red on mine is sun-burn.

The ones with the feathers growing back don't look that red any more. I have a rooster who is very good with the girls.

I think part of the feather loss was molting and the rest was the 3 young roos who went in the freezer about 6 weeks ago.

 

[violetrose]

Mine are beet red in the bare patches, but definitely not from sunburn; their yard is mostly in the shade.

 

[Farm Frenzy]

It's definitely from a rooster. If you don't have a rooster, then one of the hens has taken over, and your girls are still being mounted.

 

[violetrose]

That's impossible; our chickens are in view all the time and I've never, ever seen it. We live on a tiny lot and they're right outside my living room window!

 

[Farm Frenzy]

Don't ever say anything is impossible. I have had chickens a looonnngg time, and I've ever only seen my rooster mate with my girls a hand ful of times...but I have a 100% fertility rate, go figure.

 

[violetrose]

I can't tell at all why my hens are losing feathers. Huge bare patches: rump, circling the tail, and other places too. Only 1 or 2 don't have it. Nothing looks like it's growing back.

I wondered if they are moulting. I have no roosters, but a lady wrote that the hens will mount each other and thinks this is my problem. I've never seen them do it but she is sure it is still possible. I have also checked for mites but can't see anything.
Questions: what do mites look like?
Several people wrote about dusting with DE; what does DE stand for?
If hens do mount other hens (which I have never seen), how do I get them to knock it off?
How long do feathers take to grow back? I've only been raising chickens for a year.