Not recovering from rooster plucking

[tanimarie]

I have a flock of Americana hens. Mixed ages. I had 2 over aggressive roosters that I got rid of. The 4 older hens that the roosters were mating with had sever feather loss on their backs, wings and one tail. The roosters have been gone for at least 3 months. Theses hens have not recovered any of their feathers. The younger ones that were not mating at the time all look fine. Water is fresh, feed is ample, they run free and protected on on an acre of land. Nighttime coop is sufficiently large. I am guessing that if is was mites or lice all would be showing signs. Help!

 

[sgtmom52]

They may not get all of their feathers back until they go through a full molt, usually in the fall.

 

[Nostalchic]

You can SEE mites or lice if you examine a chicken closely, though mites live in the environment (roosts, etc) and infest the chickens at night. I haven't had such things in Colorado, but in Indiana they were unfortunately very common, and if you picked up a chicken at night or early morning you would have tiny red spider-like critters crawling on you. But I also have a hen who was ' bare-backed' by our now deceased rooster - she was his favorite - and though the others are all growing their feathers back, her back is still bare. I'm thinking that the follicles were damaged enough that no new feathers are going to grow.

 

[tanimarie]

thank you