Molting? Mites? Bullying?

[nikkigertrude]

Hi there! I am recently new to owning chickens, I bought a house that came with them and I never thought I’d keep them but here we are two years later and I am stumped. I have 6 “babies” who turned 1 year old last July 2025. 5 out of 6 have had areas of feather loss since last spring that just continues to not improve. Some of them have even lost feathers on their necks and around their head. I have treated with ivermectin despite not seeing any mites. I have used anti peck spray and blue kote despite not seeing any obvious bullying. I have given them high protein feed to help with molting. I’m honestly at a loss of what to do to help this babies. They act fine and continue to lay like normal, but it’s been nearly a year with no end in sight and j would appreciate any tips or suggestions!

 

[davemonkey]

I have heard of some chickens (Marans, in particular, from one breeder at least) being "pluckers" of other birds' feathers. But seems like you would have witnessed this behavior if this was happening (unless it's only when they are roosting for the night).

 

[Eggcessive]

It looks like they are pecking each other’s feathers out. The one with no feather loss could be the main culprit. They do this when they are bored or overcrowded in their coop or pen, when they are getting too little protein in the diet or too many treats or scratch, and sometimes when they don’t get outside to roam around daily. Can you describe the size of their coop and run, and if they go outside daily? What do you feed them including extras? I would increase their protein to 20% in an all flock feed, and limit scraps or scratch. Be sure to put out some crushed oyster shell for the layers. Pinless peepers can be good for one doing the pecking, to take their aim off the others. But make sure they have plenty of room. Do you see any mites crawling on the skin under their vents under sings, or around their necks? You should either see mites or lice, or the droppings or eggs those leave behind. Here is what to look for:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/

 

[nikkigertrude]

Thank you for the help! They have a very large run for 12 birds total. I provide them with enrichment toys and have switched to 20% all flock feed. I give them meal worms, usually 1-2 cups a day. Perhaps that’s too many? They just get so excited when they see me opening the treat bag, so I cave. I also give them lettuce and apples. Not often, but occasionally. I did have a bag of scratch mixed into their feed, but I stopped that. I also ordered some unless peepers that I am going to put on them today. If only 5 out of the 12 total birds are missing feathers, should I put the peepers on all of the ones that do have feathers? Or should everyone get them? And how long do I leave the peepers on for?

 

[Eggcessive]

Usually if there is one bully pecking feathers, only the bully needs them. Since feather picking can become a bad habit if more are doing it, then you may need to put some on others. The main thing is to address the cause of the feather picking.

 

[nikkigertrude]

If I don’t know who the culprit is, should they all get them for now? They were previously in a significantly smaller run and coop before I bought the house and built the one pictured above. The feather lose started when they were in the old set up and very overcrowded. Could it just be a “habit” they developed then that needs to be broken? Otherwise I’m not sure how to figure out the reasoning behind it.

 

[Eggcessive]

Spending time with them may help you find out. Also, if any are untouched, that might be the pecker.

 

[BDutch]

Keep watch to see whats going on.
Try to give them more distraction and quality time.
Let them free range (supervised) if possible during the day. Even an hour or two can do miracles. Chickens come home before/around sunset. Give a little scratch in the run if you want them to return to the coop (if the run is not very ).