Need Information - Chickens Losing Feathers

[Pilotbill5918]

Our chickens are losing they feather "BAD". We have talked to the local feed store here and they told us to spray them for mite & lice, which we did (we sprayed them 2 times over a 3 week period. It did not help at all. I am enclosing a few photos of the chickens. Can someone tell us what we need to do to stop the feather lost. We don't want to put them down, but we will if need be. Thanks.

 

[chicmom]

Hello there! Don't panic! Have you considered the molt? Chickens molt, which means they lose alot of feathers, and egg production decreases because they need the protein to produce new feathers. Feathers are mostly made of protein.

Some chickens really look terrible during the molt and look pretty awful with bald spots, while others never seem to look very bad. Could this be it? How does their skin look? Is it red and irritated, or just naked looking?

 

[tammye]

can not see a pic. could there be a feather plucker in your flock, very common problem and once it starts it is hard to stop

 

[dawg53]

In addtiion to what chicmom and tammye have stated....you need to physically pick up your chickens and visually inspect them for lice and mites. Especially check around their vent area. Here is a link that you can easily read and determine if your birds have these parasites. If they do, I recommend you follow their directions on how to treat them.
http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html

 

[Pilotbill5918]

Quote:
Our chickens have both, BALD SPOTS AND RED AND IRRITATED SKIN. I tried to upload some photos that we took, but they must of went somewhere else. If you can tell me how to upload the pictures in this reply, I will send you some. Thank You, Bill H., Comfort Texas