I have 2 babies - they are about 2 months old now, that have NO FEATHERS on their backs. Their wings are feathered, their stomachs are, but they have bare backs. There were 20 other babies in the same coop, and they have no feather loss. No critters that I can see. I sanitized their coop, and they now have access to plenty of dirt to bathe in. I can find no Mites, no Lice. I've increased protein and vitamins. The feathers aren't growing back.Hey, all!!!! I've been super busy at work (very busy time of year) and traveling, but all is generally well. I am over 9200 posts behind so, no, read back WON'T be happening.
I have a question, hoping you guys have some ideas. I just realized that Lissa (one of the Cream Legbars) has scabby loss of feathers all along the front of her neck as well as at the base of her tail. Their paddock has high brush, and she's a bit shy, so I hadn't noticed until now, though in retrospect, I noticed it on her neck a while ago (thought it was feathers broken by the brush or something.) They dust bathe in their bedding (they have a dust bath of sand and peat, but consistently fill it with bedding by kicking, so it's hard to keep clear). She picks at the feathers (but I didn't know if that was because it was irritated, or the cause).
I managed to get her out of the coop and into my brooder/chicken infirmary and got some photos (easier to get back than neck). She is dirty, but I didn't see any critters (I tried to look at any black spot/speck, they didn't seem like bugs, but maybe my vision sucks). Vent looks fine.
Ideas? Anyone seen something like this before? There is scabbing or redness in some areas - I'm starting by spraying Vetericyn for that aspect.
(I will also search around on BYC, but thought it couldn't hurt to ask here.)
- Ant Farm
