My chickens look PLUCKeD!

[watersoflethe]

I dunno why but i came back from my trip to find that half of my young pullets looked PLUCKED!
i'm assuming its stress from the heat it was 110 here recently and the overcrowding because they are getting too big for their coop. i was just about to sell them off too. I just want to make sure this is from their plucking and not any other disease. has anyone heard of a disease where chickens look plucked?They are about 9 weeks old now

they are mostly missing body feathers some are missing tail feathers and some are missing couple wing feathers.

oh yea the one who has it worst is my RIR cockerel...
here's a pic of his back when i hold the feathers open

 

[a2ms4chickens]

I have some 9-10 week old chicks who look like that too. Chicks go through 3 or 4 molts in their first year, so I am assuming my chicks and yours are going thru one. I have 28 chicks and only about 6 or 7 look like that.

They should be fine, they just look raggedy.

Angie

 

[dawg53]

watersoflethe. I agree with you that it was stress related... picking, caused by the relentless heat and overcrowding. Just in case, visually inspect them for lice/mites.

 

[Southernbelle]

Quote:
I agree with dawg.

 

[savila009]

watersoflethe,

X3!!! Im north of you in central valley and it got to 105 here. My chickens were miserable in that.

But I will add if i was full of feathers in 110 heat I might pull my own feathers out!

 

[Lofty Dreams]

Try free ranging for the space

 

[Kanga77510]

Also look up Hen Saver Hen aprons. They've been a sponsor here on BYC in the past. It'll help cover the picked area.

 

[le neige homme]

Quote:
better yet, give your chickens some nice shade and save the dress-up for toy dog breeds.

Chickens are forest creatures and will appreciate some shade and cover. When crammed into an unsuitable backyard coop environment, these things happen.

Shrubs they won't destroy: Lavender, Rosemary, Sage. Bamboo is great too, but that's a whole "nother" thing. and they do enjoy bamboo leaves, but they won't destroy it.

 

[watersoflethe]

Quote:
can mites cause this? some of my silkies picked up mites and i've been treating them but i dont visually see any mites on these chickens. i can see them on my silkies but non of my silkies are plucked..... should i also treat them for mites? they get a regular dusting of DE....

Quote:
i do.

but its been so hot that i think they are overly stressed.

Quote:
i would but due to zoning isssues i'm going to have to get rid of half my flock and i was going to get rid of my younger pullets since i'm less attached to them...

 

[watersoflethe]

Quote:
better yet, give your chickens some nice shade and save the dress-up for toy dog breeds.

Chickens are forest creatures and will appreciate some shade and cover. When crammed into an unsuitable backyard coop environment, these things happen.

Shrubs they won't destroy: Lavender, Rosemary, Sage. Bamboo is great too, but that's a whole "nother" thing. and they do enjoy bamboo leaves, but they won't destroy it.

they actually do have lots of shade and their coop is open so they have lots of air... its just with the weather as hot as it is you can't really get away from the heat...
they also get to free range every day... but... i think its just too hot here...

can i spray them down with some water? eheheh