I am going with my gut with this and am probably going to dust/spray for mites/lice. We have 17 hens,no rooster, and have been having issues with feather picking. First it was just the colored part of the feathers on the hen's backs. Then the downy portion was being broken off. Now their backs are plucked bare. About 9 hens have some amount of feathers missing, with 3 of my four RIR's being the worst off. I have ! RIR that I THINK might be the feather plucker. She seems to be the hen at the top of the pecking order She doesn't have 1 feather out of place. None of our 4 Buff Orpingtons have been picked, and about 3 of the 5 Donimiques have a few feathers missing as well as 3 of our 4 Buckeyes. I have never witnessed the plucking. Once I open the run door, they go running in all different directions. I haven't had a day where I can just walk around outside all day and try to watch what's going on. I wouldn't know who to watch first, or where they might be just sitting around plucking one another. I read on another thread that applying blue kote helped his hens. I have tried no pick, but it didn't stop it. It did make the irritated skin look better though.
Anyway, I noticed last night that several of the plucked hens also have feathers missing form underneath, along their keel bones and up under their wings. The complete feather is gone. No pin feathers there. Just soft bare skin. It doesn't look irritated at all. Just naked.
Our hens moulted in November of last year. Will they moult again? If so at what age? Could they be moulting now? I don't see many feathers on the ground like I did in November. I think that either they blew away (its always windy around our house as it is across from an open field and is on a hill) or one of the chicken's is eating them.
Anyway, I noticed last night that several of the plucked hens also have feathers missing form underneath, along their keel bones and up under their wings. The complete feather is gone. No pin feathers there. Just soft bare skin. It doesn't look irritated at all. Just naked.
Our hens moulted in November of last year. Will they moult again? If so at what age? Could they be moulting now? I don't see many feathers on the ground like I did in November. I think that either they blew away (its always windy around our house as it is across from an open field and is on a hill) or one of the chicken's is eating them.
