MY CHICKENS HAVE GONE BALD please help

[chickabator]

I have 10 rir hens and 2 roos everyone of them are losing their feathers they have been this way since around march. I have treated for mites lice and everything you can think of but still no feather regrowth. they eat 20% protein layer pellets. I have even treated them for depluming mites. but still no feather regrowth. their skin on parts of them is red but not on all of them they have lost weight. we give grass clippings 1x a week. I cannot let them free range. they are in pens plenty big enough . does anyone know what is going on with my chickens. I know some of it is roos but the roos don't mount each other and the roos are doing it too. First their feathers looke like they had be rubbed with a sos pad or steal wool then they just fell out . I have one little hen who is bald she has no feathers on her head neck or back but has feathers on her belly and a few on her bottom. I just can't figure it out. I thought at first it was moult but shouldn't they have their feathers by now? oh and they still lay their eggs out of 10 hens we ge 6-10 eggs a day I just don't know what else to do.

 

[LynneP]

You have an extra roo and it is possible one or both is competing for dominance by de-pluming your hens. Pick one and get the other out. Your hens are likely worn out from all the attention too and may be losing weight.

 

[Mahonri]

If they are laying eggs that's good.

Have they been dewormed?

 

[chickabator]

one of the roos is seperated from them. there is only 1 roo in with the hens at 1 time. no we have not wormed them since last year. the roos have been wormed but not the hens and the roos are about bald too. down the front of their legs on their butts and under their wings and the front of their necks and some on their backs. one little hen we call her baldie no feathers on her head at all or neck or back or butt but she has them on her wings and her belly and legs oh there are no sign of worms in their poo it looks normal except every now and then the cecal poo. another thing I have noticed too is there are no feathers laying in the coop or in the run at all.

 

[threehorses]

They won't regrow their feathers until they molt if the feathers were broken off. They'll only regrow if they're plucked out cleanly. So basically you'll have to wait til the next molt for them to grow more feathers.

They might be molting, now, if you treated for everything else.

 

[chickabator]

I looked at one of the roos this evening and a few of the hens most of the hens it is from rooster wear. except the one and she is starting to get her feathers back in her neck now and the roos have feathers coming in on their bums and legs now also. so I would say it is just a complete moult. we look them over for bugs but none can be found. plus they are on a higher protein layer pellets 20% but that is what I have always gave them . they are getting more greens now and they eat plenty of flies.

 

[ranchhand]

The only question I have is how big is "plenty big enough"? For that many, you need at least 120 square feet, since they don't free range.

My hens picked the roo's rear end bare, until I gave them more space, so I am just trying to cover another base.

Good luck, bald chickens aren't pretty.

 

[speckledhen]

Someone mentioned worming, however, be warned that if you use Safeguard, also called panacur, also called fenbendazole, that can cause feather deformities if they are molting. Sounds like molting to me, not worms.

 

[chickabator]

they are in a run that is at least 21 ft. long and 7 ft wide so they have 147sq I set for a long time and watched. no feather picking. I believe they are moulting. they are getting feather growth back . some of it is rooster wear I know but poor little baldie is so pittiful.