Is this Hen moulting or something else?

[Hjd1985]

one of my hens hasn’t been herself recently - she’s usually the boss and the last few days she’s been hiding herself around the coop. She’s still drinking but I haven’t seen her eating.

I noticed that her feathers have changed on her back and they are looking very sparse with the barbs missing off the quill. See pic.

Is she moulting (in March?!?) or could it be something else?

Thank you.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Nope, that isn't molt... even though it COULD be in March as chickens do what their body tells them regardless of what we think they should be doing.

It does look like parasite or rooster damage if you have one... more like parasite... lice or maybe norther fowl mites. Easiest seen after dark with a flashlight, part the vent feathers down to the skin and look for bugs running away. On the abdomen to. Notice if the skin is red and angry or just pink flesh colored. My preference for treatment...

A simple spritz just below the vent, under each wing pit and to the nape of the neck, feathers parted so it hits the skin. Under $8, very effective, easy to use. Soaking the bird is NOT needed. No egg withdrawal required. Also available under other brand names... the effective ingredient is Permethrin.

Take this time to also check the crop.. is it hard or squishy or empty at roost time and again in the morning before feed? Sometimes excess drinking without feeding can be a blocked crop. Are dropping looking normal?

Sometimes in older birds who haven't molted their feathers can start to look ragged like that even without parasites. Note some mites are microscopic, like scaly leg mite or depluming, while others like red mites live in the crack of wood like under the roost or in stumps and only come out to feed on the birds.

Good luck!

 

[Cevans]

Looks like lice or some other mite. I can see them on the pics.

 

[Hjd1985]

Thank you for getting back to me.

We don’t have a rooster so it can’t be that. She’s two years old and hasn’t had a single molt yet.

I only have the smite mite powder in my cupboard - is that similar? We have the omlet plastic hen house so we’ve never had a problem with red mite before.

 

[Hjd1985]

Update: we dusted her with the Smite powder last night. I checked her crop this morning and there was food in there but that could be because I couldn’t get to her before she ate. She’s been out and about today and I have seen her eating.

She’s still not herself though! Her feathers are puffed up and she is walking around very slowly. She has also had diarrhoea!