Mites?

[Spring Chickens]

Thought my chickens have been molting and some for sure have as they have come back with nice thick feathers but they still have not been laying for months (1-2 eggs a day vs 6-7 before) so I thought maybe something more. Does this look like it could be mites?
My flock of 8 has been so healthy prior to the start of this year (they are 2 yr olds) when molting started and egg production dropped. Some also have poopy butts.
This is a picture of 1 chicken, they don’t all have this rash.

 

[coach723]

Can you post some pictures of the whole birds? How much space, coop and run, do they have? It may be feather picking which is most commonly caused by over crowding or boredom. Some times not enough protein in the diet can be a factor. Too many treats can dilute the protein in the diet. Picking may be happening on the roosts when they go in at night, some observing will answer that, the culprit is often the most pristine looking bird.
For lice/ mites identification this link has lots of pictures:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/

 

[Spring Chickens]

Can you post some pictures of the whole birds? How much space, coop and run, do they have? It may be feather picking which is most commonly caused by over crowding or boredom. Some times not enough protein in the diet can be a factor. Too many treats can dilute the protein in the diet. Picking may be happening on the roosts when they go in at night, some observing will answer that, the culprit is often the most pristine looking bird.
For lice/ mites identification this link has lots of pictures:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/

Thank you for your reply! They are free run during the day on 80 acres, at night they used to have a small coop (about 4x6 but two small levels) so maybe could have been picking in there, but we just a few days ago moved them to a 8x10 coop for night with 30 ft of roost.
It is possible they get too many treats.
Here are some pictures of them. 7 hens, black roo.

 

[Kiki]

Thank you for your reply! They are free run during the day on 80 acres, at night they used to have a small coop (about 4x6 but two small levels) so maybe could have been picking in there, but we just a few days ago moved them to a 8x10 coop for night with 30 ft of roost.
It is possible they get too many treats.
Here are some pictures of them. 7 hens, black roo.

View attachment 3132731View attachment 3132732View attachment 3132738View attachment 3132740View attachment 3132743

What exactly are you feeding daily?

The stuff in your hand...is not a good balanced poultry diet.

If you're feeding that regularly then that is part of the problem.

 

[Spring Chickens]

What exactly are you feeding daily?

The stuff in your hand...is not a good balanced poultry diet.

If you're feeding that regularly then that is part of the problem.

They have organic layer feed in their feeder that they have access to all the time but I am currently slowly switching to none organic 16 percent layer pellets (due to price of organic) the stuff in my hand is bird seed that I use as a treat when I need to get them to come, but maybe they’re getting too much (my kids do give it to them sometimes too). How much would be too much? They mostly eat the sunflower seeds out of it.
They also get oyster shells.
They don’t eat much of their layer feed though unless there is snow on the ground so I’m guessing they are filling up on whatever they find free ranging in the field and trees, they tear apart a lot of horse poop too.

They were previously very healthy but since the new year I’ve had a host of issues, this long maybe molt, decreased eggs, poop butts occasionally, and some soft shelled eggs etc. so any ideas are appreciated thank you!

 

[Banana01]

I think your problem is not mites, adults are generally more resistent to them and your setup is spacious. If they were sleeping on a floor in the dirt, i would say you may have a mite issue, but the molting is more of a hint as to what is going on. Definitely need a supplement during molting if their diet is the issue.

They have good dust baths? My chickens like dry sand out in the sun, or even dusty dry dirt to bathe.

 

[Banana01]

They have organic layer feed in their feeder that they have access to all the time but I am currently slowly switching to none organic 16 percent layer pellets (due to price of organic) the stuff in my hand is bird seed that I use as a treat when I need to get them to come, but maybe they’re getting too much (my kids do give it to them sometimes too). How much would be too much? They mostly eat the sunflower seeds out of it.
They also get oyster shells.
They don’t eat much of their layer feed though unless there is snow on the ground so I’m guessing they are filling up on whatever they find free ranging in the field and trees, they tear apart a lot of horse poop too.

They were previously very healthy but since the new year I’ve had a host of issues, this long maybe molt, decreased eggs, poop butts occasionally, and some soft shelled eggs etc. so any ideas are appreciated thank you!

Can also supplement a calcium powder once in their feed along with the oyster shells to give them a boost. Not everyday, just once or twice in two weeks.

 

[Kiki]

They have organic layer feed in their feeder that they have access to all the time but I am currently slowly switching to none organic 16 percent layer pellets (due to price of organic) the stuff in my hand is bird seed that I use as a treat when I need to get them to come, but maybe they’re getting too much (my kids do give it to them sometimes too). How much would be too much? They mostly eat the sunflower seeds out of it.
They also get oyster shells.
They don’t eat much of their layer feed though unless there is snow on the ground so I’m guessing they are filling up on whatever they find free ranging in the field and trees, they tear apart a lot of horse poop too.

They were previously very healthy but since the new year I’ve had a host of issues, this long maybe molt, decreased eggs, poop butts occasionally, and some soft shelled eggs etc. so any ideas are appreciated thank you!

Yes...that sounds like too much treats. I'd suggest stopping ALL treats immediately and ONLY feed a pellet or crumble poultry feed.

 

[coach723]

I think some of what you are seeing is probably rooster damage too. From mounting. 7 hens to one roo is a bit on the low side, a few more hens might help also. He's going to mount the more submissive birds more often. His claws are probably what's causing some of the feather loss on backs and wings.

 

[Spring Chickens]

Yes...that sounds like too much treats. I'd suggest stopping ALL treats immediately and ONLY feed a pellet or crumble poultry feed.

Thank you I will stop all treats!