Loss of feathers!! help!!

[eloise11]

2 of my 3 hens have lost their feathers from the breast down to their legs ( just a strip), have checked for lice/mites etc but cant see anything.
Are mites/lice etc hard to see?? could it be something else?? please help!!
Also looks a bit sore??

 

[Judy]

They may be plucking their breast feathers in preparation for setting on a clutch of eggs. Also, depending where they sleep, the feathers may get rubbed off at night. Here's how to tell whether there are lice/mites present -- which usually show up around the vent and / or under wings, not on an exposed area:

http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html

 

[eloise11]

Thanks for your help, what does setting on a clutch of eggs mean?
They sleep inside on roosting bars.

 

[jdywntr]

They may be molting, which is the periodic loss and regrowth of feathers. Some go through a really easy molt and you hardly notice, others may lose almost all of their featehrs and take a while to regrow them.

Setting on a clutch of eggs is if they are going broody and wanting to hatch out eggs. Are they laying eggs? If so, do they stay in the nest alot?