IS MY HEN BEING PICKED ON OR JUST MOLTING?

[agary]

So we rescued 10 hens from an awful situation and all are fine but our Penny, Penny's back is bare and down around her bottom- none of the others are like this but her- since it's bare the other hens are picking on her- we have sprayed her with blue kote to cover the exposed skin but there is not one particular bully in the group they all peck at her on occasion- are we doing the right thing here or is it possible she has lice? still new at this could use some advice! thanks to all!

 

[dawg53]

So we rescued 10 hens from an awful situation and all are fine but our Penny, Penny's back is bare and down around her bottom- none of the others are like this but her- since it's bare the other hens are picking on her- we have sprayed her with blue kote to cover the exposed skin but there is not one particular bully in the group they all peck at her on occasion- are we doing the right thing here or is it possible she has lice? still new at this could use some advice! thanks to all!

You'll have to pick her up and visually inspect her for lice/mites, especially check the vent area. Treat her with sevin dust if you see any external parasites. It sounds like Penny is definitely at the bottom of the pecking order. If you havnt seen any of her feathers laying around, they are being eaten by the others. This would suggest a lack of enough protein in their diet probably due to the previous environment they came from. The Blu-Kote is a good idea. I recommend that you purchase gamebird feed which has higher protein content and feed it to your new chickens including Penny.

 

[agary]

thanks a ton- will have to take a good look at her- we sprayed her down with blue kote to cover to bare area- will def. go get some game bird feed- thanks a ton!