My Royal Palm Losing Feathers

[The Chicken Momma]

I have a one year old royal palm heritage turkey hen. She is losing her feathers and I first noticed quite a few on the coop floor last week. I figures since spring has started to sprung here in Wisconsin, she was just molting. However, today I notice she has additional tail feathers missing and some nearly bare spots near her wings. Advice?

She does live with 8 chicken hens, and eats a layer food, which my local feed mill said should be fine.

 

[R2elk]

I have a one year old royal palm heritage turkey hen. She is losing her feathers and I first noticed quite a few on the coop floor last week. I figures since spring has started to sprung here in Wisconsin, she was just molting. However, today I notice she has additional tail feathers missing and some nearly bare spots near her wings. Advice?

She does live with 8 chicken hens, and eats a layer food, which my local feed mill said should be fine.

While spring is not the normal time for them to molt, it seems that is what your hen is doing. Some do a soft molt losing just a few feathers at a time and growing new ones almost immediately. Some do a hard molt and can get practically featherless before the new feathers come in. A turkey without any of its tail feathers just does not look right.

Some people use Feather Fixer when their poultry are molting. Some people just use a higher protein feed during the molt and some people just continue with their normal feed routine.

 

[The Chicken Momma]

I did look near her vent and see a bunch of featherless quills, and smaller area near what I would call her arm pit in front of her wing. She is eating, drinking and free ranging as she always does. I'll go to my feed mill and see if they have a turkey feed with higher protein.

If she had mites, what do they look like?

 

[R2elk]

I did look near her vent and see a bunch of featherless quills, and smaller area near what I would call her arm pit in front of her wing. She is eating, drinking and free ranging as she always does. I'll go to my feed mill and see if they have a turkey feed with higher protein.

If she had mites, what do they look like?

If you are finding featherless quills, it may be mites but if the quills are still in their sheath, they may just be the new feathers coming in.

Mites are tiny and can be grayish or white. You may need a magnifying glass or take a close up picture that is in focus and then enlarge it to see if you can spot any mites. If it is mites, your whole flock is probably infested.