Infected feathers/mini molt?

[Docdetective]

So this has been going on for awhile now, not an emergency but just curious of why my young pullet is doing this.

First, she is 5 months old. Not laying. She’s my first chicken.

It’s a long story, but she wasn’t walking for two months(starting when she was only 2 months old, just started walking again last month.)
I cared for her while she couldn’t walk and since she couldn’t groom herself well, since she was laying down all of the time, I’d go through her feathers about once a week and get the dead ones off of her.
Once she started walking, immediately after all of her tail feathers started falling out. Like 2-3 per day, and some fell out on their own.
But some, even though they were dead, were not falling out, so I gently tugged on them and they came out with only a little resistance. (Don’t worry, they were totally dead, the black follicle was not attached to the end of the shaft)
And the shafts were filled with a yellow substance.

That was a few weeks ago. Her new feathers have grown in nicely and she has a tail again.
During the tail molt

Another thing that puzzles me is that she seems to be continually molting. Her neck feathers and wing feathers are constantly falling out and being replaced. I know it’s normal to have a few feathers fall out each day, but she loses at least 15-20 from all over her body a day.

Love to hear your thoughts and ideas, especially about the filled feather shafts.

 

[MysteryChicken]

@Eggcessive
@azygous
@Wyorp Rock

 

[azygous]

If your pullet hadn't had that period of lameness, I would just chalk the feather loss up to juvenile molt. First one occurs from 1-6 weeks and partial molt at 7-9 weeks, 12-16 weeks and 20-22 weeks, and during this last molt, the stiff tail feathers are grown.

However, your pullet could be carrying an avian virus that is affecting various bodily functions. If that's the case, this probably won't be the last of the issues plaguing her. Only time will tell.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

If your pullet hadn't had that period of lameness, I would just chalk the feather loss up to juvenile molt. First one occurs from 1-6 weeks and partial molt at 7-9 weeks, 12-16 weeks and 20-22 weeks, and during this last molt, the stiff tail feathers are grown.

However, your pullet could be carrying an avian virus that is affecting various bodily functions. If that's the case, this probably won't be the last of the issues plaguing her. Only time will tell.

Good post Carol. I agree.

 

[azygous]

This is what a chicken looks like that carries the leucosis virus and it is affecting her feathers. It's my hen Alice. She eventually died from organ failure from the virus. She had feather problems for the two years leading up to her death.