Mites or molting? New chicken mom here!

[Newbiechickiemom]

Hi everyone! I've googled, but gotten so many answers and I'm just not sure. I got chicks back in March. We love them. They kay regularly and seem happy. This fall their feathers around their tails started looking a bit sparse and fluffy (like when their real feathers first come in.) I figured it was their first molt. Today I looked closer and a couple of them look pretty bare and pink around the tail. Their vents look fine to me. Their laying has slowed, but only a little and it is October in Idaho, so I figured that's normal. Poop looks good. They seem happy and active. Two of the four look like the pics included. One looks a little sparse and the other looks 100% fine. No roosters. How do I know if it's mites or molting? Sorry if this is chicken 101. I just want to treat them well. If it IS mites, how do I treat? And can I still eat their eggs right now?

 

[Blue Raptor]

Hi everyone! I've googled, but gotten so many answers and I'm just not sure. I got chicks back in March. We love them. They kay regularly and seem happy. This fall their feathers around their tails started looking a bit sparse and fluffy (like when their real feathers first come in.) I figured it was their first molt. Today I looked closer and a couple of them look pretty bare and pink around the tail. Their vents look fine to me. Their laying has slowed, but only a little and it is October in Idaho, so I figured that's normal. Poop looks good. They seem happy and active. Two of the four look like the pics included. One looks a little sparse and the other looks 100% fine. No roosters. How do I know if it's mites or molting? Sorry if this is chicken 101. I just want to treat them well. If it IS mites, how do I treat? And can I still eat their eggs right now?

Welcome to the BYC site! You'l find lots of welcome help here!
If you have a rooster or aggressive hens, this may be it, because those feathers look broken off. If your looking for mites, look for tiny bugs moving across the skin at the base of the tail and near the vent.. Also look for mite egg shafts, those could look a little something like this:

 

[Newbiechickiemom]

Welcome to the BYC site! You'l find lots of welcome help here!
If you have a rooster or aggressive hens, this may be it, because those feathers look broken off. If your looking for mites, look for tiny bugs moving across the skin at the base of the tail and near the vent.. Also look for mite egg shafts, those could look a little something like this:

Thank you for replying! I didn't notice, but yes the feathers do look broken. I do not have a rooster but the hen at the top of the pecking order looks 100% fine. Could she be bullying the others? If so, do they maybe need more space or free ranging?

 

[Blue Raptor]

Thank you for replying! I didn't notice, but yes the feathers do look broken. I do not have a rooster but the hen at the top of the pecking order looks 100% fine. Could she be bullying the others? If so, do they maybe need more space or free ranging?

I’d set some time apart to watch your flock and see how the pecking order organizes. See what happens when she get near then hen at the top. She may be being picked on. Giving them a little more space (or more yard time), and making sure that they have food and water can reduce stress and decrease picking. Heat and being enclosed in the winter can also increase stress.

 

[Pheonix_in_wonderland]

You should be able to see a bug crawling around or eggs, poke around as best u can in the feathers (all over), and If you have a microscope you can take a some tape and stick it on their skin, peel, and put the sample under a microscope As well, Ive had some birds with rly tiny suckers I can barley see without the scope. you could also always put some dichotomous earth or wood ash where they like to dust bathe if your rly worried abt it To help them get rid of mites, even if they don’t tho thag won’t hurt them. be careful to get food grade DE tho, I put our down when the birds arnt there in small amounts as well.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Two of the four look like the pics included. One looks a little sparse and the other looks 100% fine. No roosters. How do I know if it's mites or molting? Sorry if this is chicken 101. I just want to treat them well. If it IS mites, how do I treat? And can I still eat their eggs right now?

Welcome to BYC

Those feathers are broken and have been picked at.
What do you feed including treats?
How old are the birds?

You have 1-2 that are feathered nicely and 2 that are not? You have 1-2 that are picking feathers. How much space do you have in your coop/run?

You can try increasing protein to see if that helps. Offer some egg, meat or fish as a treat a couple of times a week. Cut treats like scratch to a minimum.
Feather picking can be from boredom and sometimes nutritional deficiency (needing more protein).

It's never a bad idea to look hens over for lice/mites. If you find any, then use a Permethrin based poultry spray or dust to treat hens and their housing. DE and other "natural remedies" may help as "preventatives" but dust bathing in plain 'ol dirt will do the same thing. Once birds have active bugs on them, then these measures do not work and you need to treat them quickly to get them eliminated. Repeat treatments in 7 days intervals. When using a permethrin based poultry product per the label there is no egg withdrawal period.