Inexplicable Recoveries, Cures, and Unexplained Illnesses

[FarmBurl]

Hello, all! Thanks for this interesting post, chooks... I've just gotten six new hens from a gal nearby who had to get rid of her flock. First, she packed them in a box that they barely fit into to deliver them to me, lid closed with no ventilation. They were in there for about a half hour on her drive to meet me. I had a large dog kennel lined on the bottom with an old rug to transport them home, so got them some air as soon as I got them into the car. As soon as I got into my car, I noticed an almost overwhelming raw chicken smell that I have never noticed with my flock of 12... still pullets. I attributed it to their lack of air on their way to me and opened my windows... Got the new girls home and my husband helped me get the kennel into our coop with food and water until I could set it up properly for them after work. We noticed that they had some feathers missing from their neck areas (all but one) and many were sparse on their heads as well. We were also shocked to see one chicken that had a third leg sticking out behind her right leg - no foot, just looks like a sparsely feathered drumstick glued to her rear. It didn't look like it bothered her, so off to work I went.
Now they've been with me for a few days and I've been trying to figure out their feather problem through a few hours of observation when I can. I've noticed the following:
- they don't seem to be scratching or pecking themselves nor preening more than my other (very healthy) flock
-none of them seem to be pecking or plucking at any of the others of them
-they are eating normally and, in fact, are the most excited when I bring veggie scraps from the house
-only two of them will use the roost on their own - the other four "roost" on the floor of the coop
-there are broken feathers on their tails, and two have balding spots near where their legs connect to their bodies as well
-their egg production is good, we get five eggs per day from the six of them
-none of them seem to be thin and they are all very strong
-I noticed that many of them with feather loss actually have lost their feathers almost in a strip from their neck down their bellies to their rear... the skin on their underside is completely bare almost as if feathers had never been there.
-some have black spots on their tail feathers, almost like drops of ink (they don't move)
-even after getting them into our very well ventilated coop, Woods style that I've partitioned down the middle to keep our flocks separate so as to integrate them slowly, the weird raw chicken smell is still noticeable. Now I'm thinking probably from all that exposed skin!
-the bare skin isn't very red at all, only in a few places

From what I've read I'm thinking it's an aggressive (or bored) chicken that is/has been plucking feathers out of her sisters or some sort of bug infestation (mites or lice) although there's not any conclusive sign of either. On the one hand, maybe now that they've got lots of space and will be allowed to free range (gradually increasing their space over the next week or so) I'm worried about whatever it is spreading to my other chickens, though I don't want to just start dumping chemicals in the hopes of helping them. My flock has been raised free range with a feed designed to supplement such a lifestyle, clean untreated well water, and daily treats of kitchen scraps including at least once weekly fermented veggies. I've never fed garlic. I use the deep litter method which (due to a coop still in construction and recent storms) I've had to scoop out wet spots about once a week or so and refresh with dry litter... but there's never an ammonia smell in my coop and my chickens are very happy and healthy girls.

My plan is to continue to monitor the bare spots on the chickens for any sign of getting worse while gradually increasing their amount of outside space. I'm going to DE the litter and BluKote the exposed skin and add crushed garlic to their water. Looking for feedback from like minded chicken keepers on this issue as I'm relatively new to chicken keeping (this is my first year - got my gals as day olds in March of this year). I live in Wisconsin, USA - Zone 4b - in a valley.

 

[FarmBurl]

Oops - I just noticed the post about this being the wrong place... I'll repost in Illness

 

[eads0explorers]

I'm curious to know if you've figured out the solution to your problem. We just took delivery of 26 year old laying hens who seem to be in the same condition. They don't seem to be sick, except maybe one that is standing off to the side in a trance. I have given them layer pellets, meatbird crumbles (thinking maybe it's not enough protein?), and kelp. They also have some over ripe cukes and okra from the garden, watermelon scraps, and other various kitchen scraps. They've been here for an hour and are just starting to peck at the food. I put apple cider vinegar in their water to help with the stress of their 1.5 hour drive. I'm wondering what else I can do to help them regrow their feathers and regain condition.

 

[FarmBurl]

Welp, I thought the most likely two possibilities were stress/overcrowding or mites so I kept them quarantined (as one would do with new additions anyway) and monitored. Going out at night a couple of times to check for signs of mites yielded no results. I'm not one to medicate as a first try, so I kept monitoring. Now they've been fully integrated, they go up to the roost regularly with the exception of Ruthie, the one with the extra leg, and the weird smell of unhealth is gone. They've integrated with the others and are actually more dominant (my girls have just begun to lay pullet eggs) being bigger, older hens. No signs of feather loss on my original flock but the new ones haven't really started to regrow either. They've continued to lay well, increasing to a steady 6 eggs per day from the six of them.
As a rule, I try to be laid back rather than freak out so I'm going to continue to monitor. It would be nice to know how long feathers tend to take to regrow, but I think they may have just been severely stressed and maybe "cooped" up in their previous owner's set up.
Good luck!!

 

[eads0explorers]

Thanks for the update! I'm sorry you still aren't seeing any real improvements in their appearance yet. I'm sure you're concerned, as am I, about them not regrowing their feathers in time for winter. I am really hoping that this is either just from the stress of how they were being kept before coming to our farm or from a poor diet, and we also prefer to not intervene unless we know it is absolutely necessary. They seem to be eating and drinking just fine and looked very happy today. We've gotten 4 eggs since they arrived yesterday morning so I am glad to see that they are laying already. I'm thinking of spraying BluKote on the bald spots and seeing if that helps anything. Hopefully we can figure this out!

 

[FarmBurl]

I tried BluKote also, to see if I could deter a pecking chicken. Many of them have lost the BluKote while others haven't but still no real sign of feathers growing back. Since feathers are very high in protein, I'm thinking of adding some extra protein to their feed, maybe mealworms or sunflower seeds, to see if they just need some nutritional help... Molting articles say that growing feathers back can take some months, so I'm hopeful that they'll improve. As I continue to watch them, they are better integrated every day and no one seems a bully so if it was feather plucking I imagine it was lack of nutrition or space