Official Squatch Watchers

[CapricornFarm]

Guys, I feel awful. My beloved, dumb as a rock cochin Bubbles looks like a turken
She is missing so many neck feathers. I think/hope/pray it is only the result of over preening and other attempts to attack the nasty crawlies on her but I still feel horrible for not realizing earlier that something was wrong

Will the feathers grow back soon? Or will she look like that until she goes through her first adult moult?

Those bugs sneak up on all of us. I am not sure when to expect feathers back, hopefully soon. I am not a fan of nacked necks. Hugs.

 

[staceyj]

10 months old I can’t believe I didn’t notice sooner. Now she has a huge bald area on the front of her neck. I hope the lice die quickly and very painfully

You knowwwww.... it could be a molt coinciding with the lice.
I know they aren't supposed to have a molt for real until 18 months, but 5/6 of mine molted anyway and the remaining one who was holding tight to her feathers suddenly started a couple of weeks ago. She looks like hell and has just a few around her poor neck.
I actually went out side and grabbed her and then the other to check them because now I feel paranoid about the whole topic of bugs today. Didn't see a thing though on anybody.
(Except darn Margaret-Tate, she's a booger to catch.)

 

[Sassysouth]

Guys, I feel awful. My beloved, dumb as a rock cochin Bubbles looks like a turken
She is missing so many neck feathers. I think/hope/pray it is only the result of over preening and other attempts to attack the nasty crawlies on her but I still feel horrible for not realizing earlier that something was wrong

Will the feathers grow back soon? Or will she look like that until she goes through her first adult moult?

Poor baby! She needs a scarf.

 

[staceyj]

Cappy!
(@CapricornFarm )

I just remembered something !

I was at the store yesterday and went down the ightbulb aisle and thought of you.

I am NOT a fan of the new led lightbulbs.
I don't like the creepy color light they give off.
Some of them are better in the past year or so but still not the warm vivid light I used to enjoy from my old favorite "reveal bulbs" .

Here are the new ones I noticed:

 

[CSAchook]

How long has she been like that? Could she just be molting? When my sebright molted her belly was totally naked & she didn't have a tail. I'm not sure if lice would make her totally bald though.

I only noticed the problem yesterday when I saw she had a bald patch on her neck. Then I looked at her more closely and realized her neck feathers had really thinned out all around her neck. I thought about molting, but the timing is weird. She is only 10 months old and it’s January. I thought about feather picking but the skin doesn’t look irritated like she has been plucked, more like the feathers fell out or broke off? Then I used the poultry medicine book my dad loaned me to look up conditions associated with feather loss/damage and that led me to bugs. Pulled her off the roost at night and discovered her vent area was covered in lice
I know they don’t cause feather damage directly but I thought maybe constantly twisting around to preen and bite at herself she might have rubbed off/ broken her feathers over time?

Does that seem plausible? Or should I be worried there is another problem?

 

[CSAchook]

You knowwwww.... it could be a molt coinciding with the lice.
I know they aren't supposed to have a molt for real until 18 months, but 5/6 of mine molted anyway and the remaining one who was holding tight to her feathers suddenly started a couple of weeks ago. She looks like hell and has just a few around her poor neck.
I actually went out side and grabbed her and then the other to check them because now I feel paranoid about the whole topic of bugs today. Didn't see a thing though on anybody.
(Except darn Margaret-Tate, she's a booger to catch.)

Oh thank you I hope you are right!

 

[apryl29]

You knowwwww.... it could be a molt coinciding with the lice.
I know they aren't supposed to have a molt for real until 18 months, but 5/6 of mine molted anyway and the remaining one who was holding tight to her feathers suddenly started a couple of weeks ago. She looks like hell and has just a few around her poor neck.
I actually went out side and grabbed her and then the other to check them because now I feel paranoid about the whole topic of bugs today. Didn't see a thing though on anybody.
(Except darn Margaret-Tate, she's a booger to catch.)

My sebright was about 9 months old when she did a pretty hard molt. Not totally naked, but she had bald spots. I was surprised w/ how much she lost. Since then I've had a couple molt, but not nearly as bad.

Cappy!
(@CapricornFarm )

I just remembered something !

I was at the store yesterday and went down the ightbulb aisle and thought of you.

I am NOT a fan of the new led lightbulbs.
I don't like the creepy color light they give off.
Some of them are better in the past year or so but still not the warm vivid light I used to enjoy from my old favorite "reveal bulbs" .

Here are the new ones I noticed:


View attachment 1239964 View attachment 1239965

I use an LED bulb in my coop. I didn't want to risk it giving off heat and catching on fire, plus the 'bulb' part is plastic and won't break if it falls. I got the 'daylight' version.

I only noticed the problem yesterday when I saw she had a bald patch on her neck. Then I looked at her more closely and realized her neck feathers had really thinned out all around her neck. I thought about molting, but the timing is weird. She is only 10 months old and it’s January. I thought about feather picking but the skin doesn’t look irritated like she has been plucked, more like the feathers fell out or broke off? Then I used the poultry medicine book my dad loaned me to look up conditions associated with feather loss/damage and that led me to bugs. Pulled her off the roost at night and discovered her vent area was covered in lice
I know they don’t cause feather damage directly but I thought maybe constantly twisting around to preen and bite at herself she might have rubbed off/ broken her feathers over time?

Does that seem plausible? Or should I be worried there is another problem?

I'm not sure. When Odin had mites REALLY bad his skin was actually red and just looked horrible and irritated. He also had bald patches and I noticed soon after that there were LOTS of feathers in his space. Someone suggested molting, but he was only about 8 months old at the time & I didn't realize they molted before 18 months. I thought he was picking the feathers out b/c his skin was irritated.. It could totally be both molting and the bugs. I'd just keep an eye on her, you'll see the feathers start coming in at some point.

 

[CapricornFarm]

I only noticed the problem yesterday when I saw she had a bald patch on her neck. Then I looked at her more closely and realized her neck feathers had really thinned out all around her neck. I thought about molting, but the timing is weird. She is only 10 months old and it’s January. I thought about feather picking but the skin doesn’t look irritated like she has been plucked, more like the feathers fell out or broke off? Then I used the poultry medicine book my dad loaned me to look up conditions associated with feather loss/damage and that led me to bugs. Pulled her off the roost at night and discovered her vent area was covered in lice
I know they don’t cause feather damage directly but I thought maybe constantly twisting around to preen and bite at herself she might have rubbed off/ broken her feathers over time?

Does that seem plausible? Or should I be worried there is another problem?

My birds have all been losing feathers like crazy, and they hatched in August(chickens) and July (guineas). I think this screwy weather is causing it.

 

[Rubysword]

Man, Odin really is your problem burd, isn't he?
I'm looking forward to ski instructing tonight! It's so encouraging. All of the kids I'm helping to teach are girls, and they look up to me so much! Currently, they're all ducks. Let me explain: We were on the bunny slope, and they were having technical difficulties(actually, one of the other students kept on falling and trying to get on the same tow), so it took me a while to get up there. When I did, they were all huddled up with their skis in the air. For some weird reason, they reminded me of ducks. The duck thing carried over to the big hill. The main instructor was warning them about daredevil skiers, and I told them we want to be ducks, not squished bugs. Then we continued using the duck analogy, when we wanted them to follow us and such. I'll randomly whisper to them(in my best emperor impression) "Join the duck side!" I love it so much!
However, this cold is too tatering much!

 

[CSAchook]

Thank you everyone My poor bubbie looks like she is auditioning to be Smuv’s avatar It is nice to hear it might not be totally my fault. Now if only there were a card or gift I could buy that says “I am sorry I sprayed cold water up your bum” maybe my flock might forgive me
Stay warm and safe everyone!


PS @Smuvers Farm I won’t find out for at least another week how the exam went.... but I am feeling optimistic