Messy feathers

[StacyO]

I have a couple of my Easter eggers that have messy feathers on the back near their tail. I live in Georgia, and the weather has been awful with the rain. They have a coop/house to get in but their run stays muddy because it won’t stop raining! I have 11 hens, and no roosters. There are only about 3 of them with the feathers like this. They all seem healthy and act fine. They are still laying. I get 6-10 eggs (usually closer to 10) everyday. I don’t see any bugs, or bleeding. I use diatomaceous earth on the ground. Should I be worried about my little ladies??? Is this normal???

 

[fldiver97]

Is the messy bottom around the vent? I assume it is not mud.... I would give each affected girl a bath to get their bums cleaned, check vent for any redness, signs of being pecked on and signs of vent fleet. I’ve had one of my girls acting off last year and her bum was messy, when I gave her a bath in warm water with just a couple of drops of baby shampoo I found remnants of a soft shelled egg protruding from her vent. After removing it, carefully trimming some feathers around her vent and blow drying her she was fine. She actually seemed to enjoy the warm soak and blow dry . I just had to make sure she was dry before I put her in the coop, it was already pretty cold here.

 

[StacyO]

Is the messy bottom around the vent? I assume it is not mud.... I would give each affected girl a bath to get their bums cleaned, check vent for any redness, signs of being pecked on and signs of vent fleet. I’ve had one of my girls acting off last year and her bum was messy, when I gave her a bath in warm water with just a couple of drops of baby shampoo I found remnants of a soft shelled egg protruding from her vent. After removing it, carefully trimming some feathers around her vent and blow drying her she was fine. She actually seemed to enjoy the warm soak and blow dry . I just had to make sure she was dry before I put her in the coop, it was already pretty cold here.

No, their vents are clean. It’s just right there on their back near their tail feathers. I think they are pecking at their feathers some. They aren’t bleeding or sick acting at all. They seem pretty happy. I was just wanting to make sure there wasn’t anything wrong, and how to fix their feathers.

 

[aart]

No, their vents are clean. It’s just right there on their back near their tail feathers. I think they are pecking at their feathers some. They aren’t bleeding or sick acting at all. They seem pretty happy. I was just wanting to make sure there wasn’t anything wrong, and how to fix their feathers.

Do you have a cock/erel?
Feather breakage there can be from mating....some birds just have more brittle feathers so show wear more than others.


Have you checked them over real well for mites and/or lice?

Google images of lice/mites and their eggs before the inspection so you'll know what you're looking for.

Part the feathers right down to the skin around vent, head/neck and under wings.

Best done well after dark with a strong flashlight/headlight, easier to 'catch' bird and also to check for the mites that live in structure and only come out at night to feed off roosting birds.

Wipe a white paper towel along the underside of roost to look for red smears(smashed well fed mites).

If you do find bugs get some permethrin,
DE is pretty ineffective-despite it's 'popularity'.

Feathers won't be 'fixed' until they molt and grow new ones.

 

[StacyO]

I don’t have a rooster, at least none of them behave as such. Lol. Thank you for the information.

 

[yerawizard_Kristen]

Did you ever get any answers on this? I have the same thing going on with my girls. I feel like it started when they started laying. I have no roosters and no signs of mites. Just really messy feathers on their backs near the tail feathers.