My chicken is hideous. Why?

[Chickassan]

No two birds molt alike, in my experience white birds often have the worst looking molts. My delaware looked positively moth eaten much like this girl while everyone else just shed feathers she disintegrated for lack of a better word. The regrowth was also very patchy and took a long time compared to the others. I upped her protein quite a bit to try and hurry it up, it helped a tiny bit.

So those long spears with straggly traces of feathers are normal? That's how some chickens molt? They don't lose those long wing feathers; they just kind of get weird looking?

She's hideously cute!

 

[rookhomestead]

Looks like a meat bird. (they're always the ugliest) my leghorn mix always looks kind of grungy. I think they're just a little different

 

[Abriana]

Looks like she is molting

 

[Hen Pen Jem]

Greetings Mickey M,

Your beautiful girl, is suffering from a bad case of feather lice.

You will need to trim those spears, that have been eaten down, just an inch will do. Otherwise, she will be like Edward Scissor Hands, and may unintentionally injure another chicken. Use a towel to pick her up, as, she may even injure you. Believe me, I know. I went through this with two of my hens last year.

The entire flock needs to be treated with a mite/lice treatment:

• pyrethrin, made from Chrysanthemum.

• Permethrin, the synthetic version of Pyrethrin.

• Elector PSP (Spinosad) 9 ml (1.8 tsp) per gallon of water. Single use controls all stages of mites/lice. Spray on clean coop and on birds, no egg withdrawal.
  
  
• Wood ash, old timer's method.

I have used only, the Spinosad and wood ash. Both have been effective.

The coop also, should be cleaned and treated. Be sure to remove any shed feathers, routinely, from the coop and run, as, they are breeding grounds for more lice.

The devoured, primary wing feathers, on your hen will take approximately one year to be replaced! So, as a result, she may have difficulty getting up on the roost/perch. You may have to add a ramp for her, or lower the roosting perch. Other feathers will be replaced sooner. Feed a little extra protein, to your girl, a few times a week to speed feather replacement. Be patient, it will be OK.

God Bless and peace to you and your flock.

 

[sourland]

Looks more like someone is feather picking/eating to me. The sex link behind her in the first picture is also being feather picked.

 

[Chickassan]

How do you keep and feed these birds? What do you feed them and how are they housed? Is it possible to see more of them besides their backs? Maybe a bigger picture will help to see if this is a one or two trick pony.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

That doesn't look like normal moulting to me..... those feather shafts look to have been stripped. I don't think they are pin feathers. Is she a meat bird? They tend to have poorer quality feathers anyway, but I was wondering if she has depluming mites. Have you looked her over thoroughly for lice and mites..... you won't see depluming mites because they are microscopic, but it might be worth checking for other external parasites.

X2 Feathers look stripped to me as well, some are broken. She won't re-grow those until she goes through a full molt.

Depluming (feather) mites is also a good possibility. Stripping of the feathers can also be from the other birds if roosting/coop space is at a premium.

fwiw- depluming (feather mites) live in the shaft of the feather under the skin. Topical spray and dusting application of miticides and pesticides like Permetrhin will not treat depluming mites. You would need to use something like Ivermectin which is absorbed into the bloodstream since this is what these mites mainly feed on. It won't hurt to treat with Permethrin to eliminate other lice/mites that she may have. Again, the feather damage is there to stay until she molts.

 

[Mickey M]

X2 Feathers look stripped to me as well, some are broken. She won't re-grow those until she goes through a full molt.

Depluming (feather) mites is also a good possibility. Stripping of the feathers can also be from the other birds if roosting/coop space is at a premium.

fwiw- depluming (feather mites) live in the shaft of the feather under the skin. Topical spray and dusting application of miticides and pesticides like Permetrhin will not treat depluming mites. You would need to use something like Ivermectin which is absorbed into the bloodstream since this is what these mites mainly feed on. It won't hurt to treat with Permethrin to eliminate other lice/mites that she may have. Again, the feather damage is there to stay until she molts.

I will get some Ivermectin today! Thanks!