new hen mommy

[cheryl1065]

new member as of today! hopefully i will get the answers I seek due to being a new hen mommy too. i acquired a flock through a nasty divorce of two people-- who i do not know personally. consider me a rescuer of all animals big and small. is there a way to tell how old my new chickens are? i have a white hen whose feathers are gone on her back near her tail.. i witnessed the rooster pulling and clawing ( which is when i noticed the feathers disappearing) i found a good home for the rooster- now only have 16 hens BUT she has never regrown her feathers (approx 3 months) if it IS in fact mites.. wouldnt all hens be affected?

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Welcome to BYC!
You can post pictures of your flock in what breed or gender is this and people should help. some chickens are at the bottom of the pecking order and if the other hens decide that the weaker hen is the lowest on the totem pole, than she may never get those feathers back. If it were mites, most birds would probably have them. Can you post a picture of her bare places? Also, you may want to up the calcium the birds are getting by adding ground oyster shell as a snack option. If the bird is being picked on, spray Blue-Kote on her bare spots to help discourage picking until the feathers come back. And remember, a bored chicken is a mean chicken. Give them sand/grit to dustbathe in, more hides to run in and out of, feed them more treats like tuna and scrambled eggs, and, my favorite, scatter mealworms in the coop and watch them go crazy! Good luck and keep us updated!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Your hen is bare backed from over mating by the rooster, she should regrow the feathers before winter, but if she's old enough she should actually molt very soon which would help with the missing feathers.

Age in chickens can be somewhat guessed by the thickness of the legs and how pronounced the scales are on their legs, otherwise a good eyeballing by an experienced keeper will also help determine the approximate age.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Didn't she say she got rid of her roos? They should've at least started to grow back now...

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

They will not grow back until they molt, I still have a couple that haven't grown theirs back yet, some of mine will wait until November to molt.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Maybe her chickens have molted...have they? That's what I assumed...

 

[LeafBlade12345]

From what I know, I believe if the feathers are completely pulled out, they will grow back immediately, but ones that are clipped or broken at the shaft will only grow back in the molt. Is this correct?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Some will grow back slowly, but most won't until the actual molt, that's why a rooster waring the feathers off ends up so bad, because the hen remains this way for most of the year and eventually the rooster will start ripping the skin.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Interesting! I guess you learn something everyday, or night! I've never had the problem so I wasn't sure.

 

[cheryl1065]

Some will grow back slowly, but most won't until the actual molt, that's why a rooster waring the feathers off ends up so bad, because the hen remains this way for most of the year and eventually the rooster will start ripping the skin.