Is it the Texas heat or parasites?

[Dire Wolf]

3 of my girls have small thinned patches of feathers on their chests. Not quite bald but thin. it looks like there's some dirt around the ends of the feathers. One of the 3 has lost most of the feathers on the back of her neck. I've been looking around on the internet and haven't really found anything that totally fits the bill. I can't really handle my chickens so I haven't gotten a good look at them. I can only do that at night when they're sleeping. I was planning on getting a good look tonight. Egg production has only slowed by like 1 or 2 a day. Its summer here and the humidity is high. Its not quite 100 yet, but is fixin' to be soon. This is my 1st summer with egg layers. All of my birds have their own field to free range in, its almost 1/2 an acre and full of grasses, no dogs or cats in it. Does the heat effect egg production and feathers or is this a parasite issue? Should I quarantine them now or wait until I have more info? Thanks so much!

 

[GuppyTJ]

I'm not sure... is there any way you can post pictures so we can get a look at what you're dealing with?

Guppy

 

[Dire Wolf]

I'll post pics as soon as I can. they're really hard to photograph, as they're on the move quite a bit.

I got to look at one of the Reds up close and all of the feathers under her wings are gone, the skin is smooth and normal color and temp. They're all starting to pick at their chest feathers though. I'm going to move the coop over as soon as my hubby has a day off. I'm going to try DE before I buy any chemicals as we have young turkey poults in the same field. Maybe do some woodash as well.

 

[Dire Wolf]

Ok, so I got a few shots yesterday evening. Hubby is supposed to help me either tonight or tomorrow night to get better shots:



All of the girls have this, I don't see any feathers missing here though.



This is one of the chests that is going bare.



Here's Racing Chicken with her bald neck. I'm going to try to get a better shot of this tonight.



This was the 1st bare chest I noticed, its on the Buff, she's my biggest chicken.



She was picking at her feet like it itched, it could have been fire ants though, they're everywhere here!


So, does anyone have any ideas what this could be? I haven't found any bugs on the girls and they're still laying and eating and such. I'm at a loss.

 

[Dire Wolf]

I forgot to add that some of the birds have had a bald spot for several weeks (maybe months) now, I was sick and didn't get to get out to the coop for over a month (in which time my teen lied to me about the coop being clean so as to avoid cleaning it

) and after I did notice it, it took 2 weeks get it fully dry again due to weather issues. We're getting normal production still, just some of the girls are balding.

 

[GuppyTJ]

I'm at a loss and when this happens, I open up the book, The Chicken Health Handbook. (GREAT resource for all things related to chicken health, bought mine used on Amazon). It says that loss of feathers around the neck and chest can be caused by feather picking (p. 137). Do you notice any of this? They start picking at each other for various reasons, usually triggered by things like crowding, lack of exercise, parasites or lack of nutrition. Also, molting causes feather loss, of course. In any case, they have to grow the feathers back at some point. Is the feather loss getting worse or better? Is it possible that they were even less well cared for when you were sick than what you thought? Not sure what your set up is like so just shooting in the dark.

Hope this helps,
Guppy

 

[Dire Wolf]

I have a pretty open set up. No fencing around the coop, just the field. At the time it was really dirty (it stank really bad, it was very gross. I was really mad at my teen), I still had them in the run only. But now for almost 3 months, its been all open, super duper free ranging for them. Egg production went up at that time. I haven't seen any pecking at each other, but its hot out here right now, so watching them isn't much of an option. I noticed missing feathers about 10 days after changing who I bought hay from. The amount of feathers missing hasn't changed, my Golden Greek's feathers have looked the same for well over a month now. The bald neck is on my most skittish chicken, i don't think she would stay still long enough to let anyone peck her. lol Idk, the goat chases them all over their field, he's gotten really obnoxious and kinda aggressive, I guess it could be stress. I think we're just going to move the coop, dust everything and clean the nesting area again. Could the hay have anything to do with it? I can't get straw here.

 

[Dire Wolf]

Duh, forgot to say that my coop is really simple, 6' deep, 8' wide and 8' feet sloping to 7' tall. 2 shelves, bottom has plastic record boxes for nesting boxes. Top shelf is covered in hay for roosting. (I tried a roosting bar, they wouldn't use it) I have hay on the floor as well. Mainly due to the stupid goat eating hay from the boxes and roosting area. I'll try to post pics. Its really simple, we try to K.I.S.S. everything around here.

 

[HappyHenFarm78]

You mentioned that there was 'dirt' at the bottoms of some feathers...could that be mite eggs? check their vent areas really closely for tiny moving dots... and lice. Also, If your goat chases them, and eats their hay he is bound to nibble feathers. If he grabs a mouthful of feathers and the hen freaks out and jumps away then the feathers will be pulled out and eaten buy the goat- it only takes a second- could be that's whats producing the random 'baldness'??? and feathers if plucked right out will take time to form a new feather shaft....so it may appear that they are bald a while. Just guessing it's the goat- because typically lice will cause feathers to look ragged and moth eaten and mites will cause lots of black debris on head and vent areas.. seems like the birds likely aren't plucking themselves...

 

[Dire Wolf]

So, I was able to go look more closely at everyone today. Apparently, they're easier to handle in the heat of the day. They've taken to following me around lately as well. I was able to get some pix after we moved the coop off of the old area. So here goes, lots of pix:



It looks like little black spots on the combs, along with a little white places like dry skin.



I tried to get a good close up, but they weren't having it.

Someone asked what my set up is:



Very basic coop, not even a door!



Bottom shelf is nesting boxes, there's fresh hay in them so it looks all chaotic



This is the turkey sleeping area and the pen initially intended for turkeys, that didn't work though.



The goat loves the turkey pen though. lol



Sorry, its a bit out of the order. You can see all of the hay I haven't made a compost pile for yet.



The goat knocked all of the rungs off the chicken ladder this week. We have lots of ventilation which is crucial around here (or so I've been told). If you look really closely, you can see a little black bantam in the corner with no nesting box.

We moved the coop a good 10 feet back from where it was and did my regular hay exchange, they go no more than a week with the same hay. It looks like the Racing Chicken has gotten pecked by the others, which is ironic as she's the fastest chicken in the flock. I'm pretty sure its a parasite, I haven't seen any creep crawlies though. I have spinosad, DH suggested washing the birds with flea and tick shampoo for puppies or maybe a light oil mixture with Tea Tree Oil and Eucalyptus oil watered down. I seem to remember reading somewhere that those oils are too strong and cause lung trauma or the likes. I know that the spinosad will kill everything on the ground, but what's the best treatment for the birds? Is there any natural alternatives to the poisons?

And sorry the post is so long and it too me so long to post them.