no feathers on back and few on wings with no signs of regrowth

[mountainmommapa]

I have a hen that will be a year old this in a month. She started to lose feathers on her back in late Nov. I figured she was molting being that my birds are free from disease and pests, well nourished, and very free range. She has gotten progressively more naked and shows no signs of feather regrowth, She has also continued to lay eggs. All my chickens laid through the winter. Why is my chicken not growing her feathers back? Bad genetics? She did come from Tractor Supply.

 

[donrae]

I have a hen that will be a year old this in a month. She started to lose feathers on her back in late Nov. I figured she was molting being that my birds are free from disease and pests, well nourished, and very free range. She has gotten progressively more naked and shows no signs of feather regrowth, She has also continued to lay eggs. All my chickens laid through the winter. Why is my chicken not growing her feathers back? Bad genetics? She did come from Tractor Supply.

Can you post a picture of her?

 

[mountainmommapa]

 

[mountainmommapa]

 

[mountainmommapa]

 

[mountainmommapa]

My Shy Little Violet has been like this all winter! HELP

 

[azygous]

It appears her body may be attempting to molt. Yes, it's probably got a genetic cause, but TSC is not the reason for it. They're merely a corporate middleman to distribute chicks. They don't breed them.

You might try Feather Fixer. It's a pricey feed that supplies the proper nutrients for feather re-growth.

It also looks like she's trying to grow new feathers, but they may be getting plucked by the others. They are attracted by that vast sea of pink flesh. Try painting Blu-kote on the bald areas or put a saddle on her. It may give the pin feathers a shot at growing out before they're eaten by the others for their juicy blood supply.

One other thing you might want to check. Those older feathers appear to be in a stripped condition as they would be from parasites. I know you believe the flock is parasite free, but you may have coop mites and not know it. Go out after dark with a flash light and make sure there are no bugs crawling in the perches and up the legs of your chickens.

Mites do not live on chickens but lice do. So a very close inspection of your chickens skin around the vent area might be worth the effort. I've had feathers look just like those stripped ones on your hen, and it was from lice. it wouldn't hurt to go ahead and treat her for parasites to be on the safe side. Lice are as tiny as the period at the end of this sentence, so you may miss them unless you use a strong light.

 

[mountainmommapa]

I have had a jacket on her all winter to protect her back from both the roo & 13 other hens. Im looking into blue kote but I rubbed her down good with some home made tea tree salve after I took the pics this morning. (Shea butter, beeswax, almond oil, coconut oil, tea tree oil, vit e & d) Made it myself. She's been naked & looking like she's gonna get feathers for at least 2 months. She's one of the more dominant hens & doesn't really take crap from the other hens. And when I took the pics she was in the nesting box laying an egg. I am definitely going to investigate for bugs but I would think the other girls would be equally effected. And my egg production hasn't gone down. Every hen laid an egg just the other day. And I keep my coop pretty clean, but I know that doesn't necessarily mean anything. What can I use besides DE? I also have bees & DE is a death sentence for bees. I have been feeding them a mix of chic crumbles & layer for the extra protein & they get snacks like black oil sunflower seeds & unsalted peanuts in the shell. A cantaloupe cut in half is another fav. They honestly get treated better than some people's kids. I'm on the mite hunt but I haven't noticed any damage or irritation to the vent area. Would there definitely be evidence by the vent? And any bee safe treatments for parasites? Thank you much!