Molt?

[linguini]

Here is a suggestion: you can wrap the run up with marine vinyl or tarp, or even put up boards all around to make the entire run/coop into a larger coop, which will double the size you have now. You can leave the end of the run (35"x35" wire-mesh panel) open for ventilation, and leave the sliding door open at all time.

 

[Willows Bend Farm]

We have 5 chickens. 1 is okay , 4 have bare featherless spots just below the beaks on thier necks good size area. 3 of these have bare backsides starting just below the vent area and about 7 by 7 inches. A few have black dots on the combs . All we now inside . They are angry about it and are board. I wanted them in the garage but it too is very cold. Below zero for a few days again.

It is cold here so we have them in the basement in an extra large dog cage and joined to their baby cage … until they have some feathers to come in or it gets warmer out . Not sure what temp is good enough ( hope not 50 degrees . That could take a whole long time . ) They stink. Not the air freshener I had hoped for.

We have them on highest protein food… wild game food , dio. Earth, and Zyfend a.

I need to give them more room … thinking about putting tarp down and block a larger area ;(

Any suggestions?

Hi! My main question is how old are they? On average chickens have their first molt at about 18 months. If they are younger than this you probably should check for any signs of mites and lice, for example you can look for pale comb, changes in appetite, less eggs, dirty looking vent, as well as possible feather loss around your vent and back. Also the black dots on there comb are most likely frost bite so you can apply some vaseline to hopefully stop it from getting worse. Do you by any chance know when they started having feather loss? I would also recommend putting them back into there coop soon, as chickens do a really good job at regulating there body temperture so to keep them as healthy as possible you should keep them in their coop. Depending on the tempurture you can always get a form of radiant heat as that is the safest, but unless it is about -10 to -20 degrees i don't recommend it for saftey reasons if you are worried about their bare skin getting frost bite you can always put some vaseline on it to be safe. Also if they do have mites make sure to start treating them asap to make sure they are all good, and if you feel most comfortable you can always keep then in your garage or basment during really cold spells as they are getting their feathers back in, Just make sure they have a good amount of space, and you slowley aclumate them back to the outside temperture! I hope this helped! I am wishing you luck! <3

 

[rosemarythyme]

This is the coop …?I hope you can see it . 2 coop parts together are big enough. Thank you , we will have to remove the diving wall agree might be too small

Without exact measurements I'm going to assume this coop is suitable for 2, maybe 3 hens, and you have 5. Crowding is a big contributor to pecking order/bullying issues.

The coop (the upper portion) by itself (minus nest boxes) should be around 20 sq ft. It's also lacking sufficient ventilation, which when combined with cold weather is a contributing factor to frostbite.

This won't be feasible now, but something to possibly consider in the future to expand the usable coop space. It does require that you add a much larger run and/or free range the majority of the day:

To turn it from 2 small "boxes" (tiny coop above tiny run) into 1 bigger "box" you'll want to remove as much of the inside coop wall as possible, plus the floor. Take out the old roosts too.

Nests might be able to stay as is, or may need to be relocated elsewhere or replaced - depends on the structure of the coop and how things inside stack up once done.

Run a new roost(s) lengthwise or widthwise across the newly open space, depending on how much roost is needed. Ideally you’d like 12” per bird but 10” can suffice in many cases.

Board up some of the external wire walls so that the roost area is protected from winds and rain. Do NOT fully cover up all the wire, you need ventilation and natural light, so at the very least a few inches under the roofline should remain open. If your climate allows for it, you can leave entire walls open with just the mesh, or make it convertible for the season by covering up open walls for winter, and then uncovering for summer.

Example of a modified prefab: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-renovated-prefab-coop.1440258/