New member

[Buffy Orp]

Hello fellow chicken people. I have had my flock for a year now. I have 5 each of RI Reds, Buff Orps, Ameraucanas, and Red Rangers. The RR were for meat but never got fat. They are laying now! So, I have read about some chickens having feather loss with mites being ruled out. I have the same situation and not all 20 chicken have this feather loss. They are all laying well (8-16 eggs/day) and are eating well. I have 2 heat lamps in the coop for them. We have had a lot of cold weather here in Central PA. I look forward to sharing and learning with all of you.

 

[TwoCrows]

Where is this feather loss? Roosters can wear feathers off the hens backs and necks. You might need hen saddles if this is the case. Aggression from other birds pulling or picking out feathers is a possibility. If this is the case you would need to add more room and give them things to occupy their time other than picking on each other....hanging cabbages or veggies, seed pecking blocks or a flake of hay, of course expand on their room or get them out to free range. Not enough protein will have them picking and eating feathers to get more protein. If you suspect this, you can add meat scraps, cooked ground beef or turkey to their diet a few times a week. Of course as you mentioned, mites will certainly cause feather breakage and loss. Any open skin areas or injured areas of their bodies need some blu-kote sprayed on them to not only prevent infection, but keep the others from picking further.

Good luck with your babies and welcome to BYC!

 

[gander007]

Alright

great to have you joining the BYC flock

Have you looked at BYC's learning center it's free

Two Crows as always has given you some good info

If you want a fast growing eating chicken look at a broiler chicken
this is what they were made for

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Our new spring additions

gander007

 

[Buffy Orp]

Thank you both. I don't have any roosters and I really don't see the hens picking on each other. I do open their hatch into the yard when the weather allows. As far as free ranging, I would love to but we have red tail hawks and figured my hens would become their next victims.I don't think I would have a hard time getting them back in before night fall but ii is a concern as we have coyotes and other night time predators. I do give my hens meat scraps weekly and they get Dumor crumbles for feed and scratch grains too. Can it just be boredom?

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! You've gotten some good advice above, like TwoCrows said, chickens can pick up some really bad habits out of boredom, using Pinless Peepers or something similar is something to think about, especially if you can narrow down the culprits. They are a little young to be molting, but some chickens seem to have weird schedules so I would look into it as a possibility, nice article on it http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/217/moulting-a-natural-process You might double check for mites/lice also, use a magnifying glass and don't forget to check the coop/roosts at night for mites that don't stay on the chickens all the time.

 

[Buffy Orp]

All good advise. Even though they are a year old they are too young to molt? When do they typically start?

 

[Buffy Orp]

Where is this feather loss? Roosters can wear feathers off the hens backs and necks. You might need hen saddles if this is the case.  Aggression from other birds pulling or picking out feathers is a possibility. If this is the case you would need to add more room and give them things to occupy their time other than picking on each other....hanging cabbages or veggies, seed pecking blocks or a flake of hay, of course expand on their room or get them out to free range. Not enough protein will have them picking and eating feathers to get more protein. If you suspect this, you can add meat scraps, cooked ground beef or turkey to their diet a few times a week. Of course as you mentioned, mites will certainly cause feather breakage and loss. Any open skin areas or injured areas of their bodies need some blu-kote sprayed on them to not only prevent infection, but keep the others from picking further. 

Good luck with your babies and welcome to BYC!

 

[Buffy Orp]

The area affected is in front of the tail on most. A couple have feather loss around the vent. I gave them a flake of hay to peck at. I observed them for a while and they don't seem to be picking. Also, the Red Rangers were supposed to be meat chickens, harvested at 10 - 12 week, somthey said but when I see pics of RR's they don't look like mine.

 

[sourland]

Welcome to BYC - I agree it sounds as if some of your birds have started feather picking/eating.

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]