hurt or roo?

[clifford258]

Hey folks this hen below is worryimg me to death her wings look awful! I don't think its mites I've looked and can't see anything and none of my other hens look like this!!!! Maybe my roo is getting her to much. Sorry about the pic its not the best but you can see enough

 

[clifford258]

 

[thechooks22]

It looks like just feather damage if it is then it is probably from your Roo ...

 

[chooks4life]

That sort of feather damage is often due to either insufficient protein or feather eating mites. I would check her for mites first, offhand. Another option is that she has not moulted properly before, since hens of that breed often are terrible at moulting. The feathers have quite thick quills, and may be old retained feathers that have lost the finer filaments due to being decrepit with age.

You can be feeding her feeds labelled 'complete' or giving her mutivit and mineral supplements and lots of protein, but how natural these additives are influences how the body processes them, and also that type of breed of hen often has a rather inefficient system when it comes to absorbing all the nutrience from their feeds. So just because you feed a great diet doesn't guarantee that commercial layer breeds of hens will absorb all of it correctly.

In my experience no amount of mating will wreck a hen's feathers nor defeather her when she is in true complete health, which pelletized feeds do not give them. Truly strong feathers can take a huge amount of abuse without getting damaged. Quite often I have a 50:50 ratio of hens to roosters all freeranging together and I never have 'overmated' hens. I attribute this to not feeding them pellets and their multivit/mineral mix being kelp, nothing synthetic or artificial. We're not artificial machines, we do best on natural fuels, and the same for animals. Anything hyper-processed is beyond our capacity to utilize to the fullest extent without side effects.

It's not your rooster's fault. If her feathers were of prime health he could literally hang off them without breaking them. Best wishes.