Losing Feathers

[MonetD]

Hi this is Remy, his feathers around the neck area seem kind of scant. No other chicken is currently losing feathers more so I see signed of mites? The feathers are also kind of hard. Should I be worried or just give him a bath?

 

[Beau plus penny]

looks like other chickens did it but im not an expert so.

 

[MamaPoult]

Remy is a pretty boy! Is he maybe being bullied? That seems to be a common place that chickens will lose. My girls hit a hard moult this year and I found that this with added oregano, garlic and oats made all the difference for my flock. I bought mine from the feed store this is just to see what it looks like!
https://www.chewy.com/rooster-boost...rHTGyQODrN7mQRtteCeuoq3tKTP23u72DCmZUbJ7YTGXk

 

[coach723]

How old is he? Are there pinfeathers coming in, the angle makes it hard to tell?
The feathers may be getting worn or broken off from putting his head through fence or wire, trying to get to something on the other side. They look very evenly worn for it to be from feather picking.

 

[MonetD]

How old is he? Are there pinfeathers coming in, the angle makes it hard to tell?
The feathers may be getting worn or broken off from putting his head through fence or wire, trying to get to something on the other side. They look very evenly worn for it to be from feather picking.

Hey they are all a little over 4 months old. We don’t have any fencing that his head could get stuck in.

 

[coach723]

Not suggesting he's getting stuck, just maybe doing something repeatedly that is rubbing the feathers off/or breaking them. At 4 months, he also could be doing a juvenile molt, which can happen. He may be getting feather picked, it just looks so even that makes me think it's something else. It may resolve as they get a little older and are truly fully feathered. If you have a game camera, you can try putting that in the coop to see what's going on when they go to roost. If there is any feather picking it often happens then.

 

[Debbie292d]

Molting normally starts at the head, but not sure that's what's going on.

I like @coach723's idea of putting a camera out there to see what's happening.

If it's feather plucking, the two most common causes for it are a lack of protein and overcrowding.

Overcrowding issues will occur if they have less than 4 square feet per bird in their coop, and less than 10 square feet in their run.

Lack of protein issues usually don't happen if they're on a good commercial chicken feed, but if you start seeing feather issues on other chickens, you might try upping to an 18-20% protein all-flock feed. That'd be better for your roosters in that it's lower calcium, and we just put out a dish of oyster shell for the hens. Whoever needs it, eats it.

For quick high protein, and somewhat healthy treats, try small amounts of scrambled eggs, tuna in water or any fish, or canned cat food.