Mystery!!!! Missing feathers.

[MIgardengal]

It happened again today, between 12 & 3 pm. We have been checking her multiple times a day. And I’m getting frustrated!

Over the past 1.5 months one of my hens, has lost her butt feathers. Once a week it seems I come outside to find her with a bloody back end from broken feathers. I bring her in wash the blood off, let her dry, put her back in with the others, it’s fine for a few days, and then I find her with a bloody back end again. I’m going to say this has happened around 8xs so far. I did notice one other hen has a few butt feathers missing, but nothing like Lacy who’s bald!

-They have been on high protein “feather fixer” since the 2nd time this happened.
-Molted in November of last year.
-She’s middle of the pecking order, and she doesn’t get bullied. She’s got all her feathers except on her butt.
-They don’t have mites or lice, I checked all of them in beginning of April. And just because I’m OCD gave all 5 a shampoo bath and cleaned/scrubbed out the coop.
-They have plenty of room 90sq ft run, 40sq ft coop. For 4 full size hens + 1 bantam. I sprinkle a cup of sun flower seeds in the wood chips in the run to occupy them during the day.

I have had the same 4 EEs/BR since spring of 2020. Never had an issue. Bantam was added in November.

Anyone have any insight? Do you think she’s doing it to herself or is someone pulling her feathers. Thx so much for any advice!

Photo after I just washed the blood of her bum.

 

[nuthatched]

The sunflower seeds might be diluting the nutrition from the feed. If it's the 17% feather fixer, it might not be good enough. Maybe pinless peepers on the others.

 

[MIgardengal]

The sunflower seeds might be diluting the nutrition from the feed. If it's the 17% feather fixer, it might not be good enough. Maybe pinless peepers on the others.

It’s 20% protein feather fixer feed. Can a hen reach this area on her own and pull out her own bottom feathers. Or is it someone else doing it?

Any why would this happen if she’s not getting bullied in any other way? Never had this happen in 3 yrs. So I’m wondering if it’s the new bantam we added in November? But the bantam is also the lowest on the pecking order.

 

[nuthatched]

It’s 20% protein feather fixer feed. Can a hen reach this area on her own and pull out her own bottom feathers. Or is it someone else doing it?

Any why would this happen if she’s not getting bullied in any other way? Never had this happen in 3 yrs. So I’m wondering if it’s the new bantam we added in November? But the bantam is also the lowest on the pecking order.

She can reach that area but it's unlikely she's doing it unless she has mites. Which since the others are OK, is a slight possibility

 

[Sueby]

Feather pickers are hard to deal with. Assuming no bugs & all are healthy, if something looks different (like your plucked hens butt) the other birds will keep plucking when new feathers start to grow, or peck till she bleeds because her skin is red.

I have one RSL that loves to 'over groom' my bearded easter eggers & they just stand there & take it! I also had a feeder that would break off some feathers & a couple broken feathers was enough to get my red going plucking the other birds neck till she was bald. When she gets obsessed with plucking I separate her out till feathers grow back & she usually forgets about it, till something is off again. I used to put a friend in with her for company when separated, but she actually likes being alone (she's old & head hen).

Some people try a blukote type spray, that, for me, just made my red even more curious & she plucked more. I tried pine tar, that just made a HUGE mess & I don't recommend. Some will try pinless peepers & that can work pretty well if you know who the plucker is. My personal best solution is to separate. Do you have a way you can separate the plucked bird out till she grows feathers back? Or if you can find out who is doing the plucking you can separate that one. Or put peepers on her.

As I said, it's hard to deal with, especially since you haven't witnessed it. & it can be even harder if you don't have a large set up where you can keep birds separated.

Good luck.

 

[aart]

It’s 20% protein feather fixer feed

What exact brand is this?
"feather fixer" is not going to 'fix' feather problems(long story how that marketing crap started).

gave all 5 a shampoo bath

Not really a good idea. What exact kind of shampoo did you use?

They have plenty of room 90sq ft run, 40sq ft coop. For 4 full size hens + 1 bantam.

That's minimal, especially over winter when they may not be able to range much(if you even free range them). Pics of your coop and run, in side and out, may help here.

I sprinkle a cup of sun flower seeds in the wood chips in the run to occupy them during the day.

They are filled with fat, not good overall and certainly not daily.
Foods/treats are not a good way to deal with 'bored' birds.

 

[MIgardengal]

Feather pickers are hard to deal with. Assuming no bugs & all are healthy, if something looks different (like your plucked hens butt) the other birds will keep plucking when new feathers start to grow, or peck till she bleeds because her skin is red.

I have one RSL that loves to 'over groom' my bearded easter eggers & they just stand there & take it! I also had a feeder that would break off some feathers & a couple broken feathers was enough to get my red going plucking the other birds neck till she was bald. When she gets obsessed with plucking I separate her out till feathers grow back & she usually forgets about it, till something is off again. I used to put a friend in with her for company when separated, but she actually likes being alone (she's old & head hen).

Some people try a blukote type spray, that, for me, just made my red even more curious & she plucked more. I tried pine tar, that just made a HUGE mess & I don't recommend. Some will try pinless peepers & that can work pretty well if you know who the plucker is. My personal best solution is to separate. Do you have a way you can separate the plucked bird out till she grows feathers back? Or if you can find out who is doing the plucking you can separate that one. Or put peepers on her.

As I said, it's hard to deal with, especially since you haven't witnessed it. & it can be even harder if you don't have a large set up where you can keep birds separated.

Good luck.

Yes I’m 100% positive it’s not mites/lice. And I know it’s not bullying, because I sit and watch when I toss out sunflower seeds and everyone eats peacefully together etc.

But that’s interesting you have a hen that has a weird tick and likes to just pluck feathers.

My initial thing was to figure out if it was self inflicted or from a flock mate. But it’s been hard because I have never personally observed it happening. :/

We have an urban flock, so not alot of room but I do have a wire dog crate we could set up in the run. How long should she be isolated? Or the picker/if I can figure out who it is…

I guess after your post, it has me thinking maybe it’s the tiny chochin bantam we got in November, because we never had this issue with our main 4 ladies over the last 3 years.

 

[Three Little Chicks]

As an observation technique, can you set up a Pet-Cam or like somehow set up a Zoom with yourself in a tablet/laptop combination? The "Zoom" is a way to observe your situation and basically free but you'll need to first sign into to both. Just a thought, assuming handled ethically minded.

 

[MIgardengal]

What exact brand is this?
"feather fixer" is not going to 'fix' feather problems(long story how that marketing crap started).


Not really a good idea. What exact kind of shampoo did you use?


That's minimal, especially over winter when they may not be able to range much(if you even free range them). Pics of your coop and run, in side and out, may help here.


They are filled with fat, not good overall and certainly not daily.
Foods/treats are not a good way to deal with 'bored' birds.

I’m attaching a picture of the feed the feed store told me to get after the second bout of finding her with blood on her rear.

Initially I was stressed thinking maybe it’s mites and I just don’t see them. So I looked up what our local 4-H recommended, and they said pre-showing to wash hens in a dog flea shampoo (as its gentle but contains prythrin to kill mites). So even though I didn’t see any mites on my hens, I did this as a precaution.

As far as coop/run size that’s what we’re locked into via our city ordinance. Because we are urban, they dictate how large our set up can be/# of hens based on our lot size (wish we lived in the countryside where we could do what we want!). Technically we are allowed 6 hens, but we only have 5 one being bantam in the 40sq ft coop/90sq ft run. We do have drift wood perches etc too. But I’m 100% positive it’s not bullying. I know this hen is middle of the picking order, and gets along well with everyone.

Because we have to keep them in a run (I’m occasionally a law breaker and when I’m outside to babysit them allow them to dig for worms!) and they seem to like to dig for bugs, I want to give them something they can dig for.

 

[MIgardengal]

Feed for the last 1.5 months…before these issues started for the last 3 years we were feeding Dumor layer feed