Molting Hen Not Growing New Feathers

[K2goatsandducks]

Hi there!
I have a one to two year old buckeye hen that looks horrendous with her molt and is not progressing through it at the pace of the rest of the flock.
She has lost a ton of feathers but no pin feathers are protruding.
Her sister molted a month ago and looked rough for only a couple weeks, but Nettie has been bedraggled for a month or more.

My concern is the lack of progress.

What do you think? Is this normal and I just need to wait it out?

I’ve attached a picture of rough looking Nettie and her sister, Brutus for comparison.

 

[GodLovesU]

Have you checked her for mites?

 

[K2goatsandducks]

Have you checked her for mites?

We have been battling red mites in the coop, but wouldn’t it impact the other similarly if that was the problem?

I will do a check on her tomorrow and dust her with permethrin to cover all my bases.

 

[Loving my girls]

I agree with godloves you, it could also be a worm infestation?
Have you checked her poops ?

 

[Jerri_Jones23]

Have you checked her for mites?

Yes, great advice!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

We have been battling red mites in the coop, but wouldn’t it impact the other similarly if that was the problem?

I will do a check on her tomorrow and dust her with permethrin to cover all my bases.

I've noticed in my flock that some birds don't handle mites as well, probably due to some not grooming themselves/dustbathing as often as ones who tolerate them better

 

[lagrange chicks]

I have 1 hen that looks similar to yours, In October I noticed she was loosing neck feathers but she was still laying. In mid-November she stopped laying and started loosing more feathers. As of now she has lots of pin feathers on her neck and the feather loss has slowed down. I sure wish she would get all her feathers back because she has to be so cold, its been below 0 for a few nights here. She is a easter egger, the other easter egger lost her feathers within a couple days and re-feathered in just a couple weeks.

 

[LaFleche]

Feeding some animal protein like curd cheese, meat scraps, greek yoghurt etc. during molt will help them regrow their new feathers.

 

[K2goatsandducks]

I agree with godloves you, it could also be a worm infestation?
Have you checked her poops ?

I will take a closer look at them for sure! We use droppings boards, so I’ll poke around a bit where she sleeps.

Won’t worming during a molt damage the new feather growth though?

 

[Loving my girls]

I will take a closer look at them for sure! We use droppings boards, so I’ll poke around a bit where she sleeps.

Won’t worming during a molt damage the new feather growth though?

Isn’t it wonderful how we spend our christmases

I wouldn’t worry if necessary just take action with the wormer. An infestation is Bad.