Molting?

[tacraig07]

My chickens are starting to loose feathers on their back. At first we thought the roosters were being too hard on them. (They look very brutal when breeding) They are leghorns and the hens are White Rhode Islands and Red Rhode Islands. Then we thought maybe they are molting. They are about 9 months old. One is not tolerating it so well. Is this normal?

 

[sourland]

How many roosters and how many hens do you have? Excessive mating and gang breeding by multiple roosters can be hard on hens and can even lead to injuries to their sides and backs.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Can you post a photo? Maybe we can help more if we can see what you're talking about. I've had excessive breeding and moulting look very similar.

Right now I have one hen in my flock that is over-bred. Any new feathers that were coming in get broken off, and the skin is really red. The moulting hens this year moulted in almost exactly the same pattern, without the broken feathers and the red skin.

 

[tacraig07]

Sorry for the delay! We have had the flu swarm or home! I'm actually thinking it is the roosters. We only have 3 roosters and 9 hens, but one rooster is a white silkie bantam. A couple hens have feathers missing and sores on their backs. I can post a pic tomorrow. If this is the case, what are our options? Should we kill the roosters (except the batam!)?

 

[tacraig07]

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Here are some pictures. I included a picture of one of the roosters so you could get an idea of their size compared to the hens.

Thank you!

 

[tacraig07]

It didn't load them all. Here's the rest!

 

[tacraig07]

 

[tacraig07]