Loosing feathers

[hazel4013]

Some of my hen are losing feathers near their tail. It's also red. I probably should mention when one of thier feathers are lose another hen picks it are eats eat. I bought this power and put it on them and then thier feather started growing again but in a week it was bald again. What should I do?

 

[sumi]

What was the powder you used? It sounds like you may have either a feather picking problem or a mite problem. If they eat the feathers as well it is possible that they need more protein in their diet. You can fix this by offering them some extra high protein snacks such as scrambled egg, meat scraps, a little dry cat food, tinned tuna or mealworms. Feather picking is often caused by boredom or cramped living space, so make sure they have adequate space and hang a cabbage or some apples in the run for them to peck and amuse themselves. If it's mites, you will need to dust them, their coop, bedding etc with a good quality poultry dust, such as Permethrin and follow up with another treatment in 10 days to kill the new bugs hatched from eggs laid before the first treatment. Hope this helps!