Older chickens going gray?

[minaayindra]

I started keeping Dutch bantams in 2014. I had 3 young pullets and one cockerel at the end of the summer, but I also had a few chicks who died.

I couldn’t keep the cockerel in spring because he made too much noise early mornings. I live in a town. I gave him away after he fertilised a number of eggs. I kept 3 pullets from that hatch. Gave away the cockerels.

A few years after another hatch I sold one of the 2014 pullets (now a broody hen) together with two young cockerels because I was getting too many chickens.

A few years later I had a few casualties amongst my Dutch. One Dutch from 2014 disappeared one day (probably a bird of prey). The next year a hen from 2015 was killed by a fox.

So I have still 3 oldies. None of the Dutch died of health issues.
2 hens of another Bantam breed I had, both died with health issues. So yes, I believe the Dutch in my country where Dutch a not a rare breed, are a strong breed with long lives and without health issues.

 

[minaayindra]

This was exactly when his feathers were changing colors- I didn’t get any pictures I saved because I took him to the vet. I was happy it finally healed up but it was bizarre.

Apologies, I ran out to close up my coops for the night before you posted and just now got back in and back to my computer!

Did you happen to take any pictures of the area when this was happening? That does, indeed, sound like it could be feather picking. Had you changed anything about your setup between when it was still occurring and when it stopped? New things for them to peck or climb on? Any change in feed, increase in treats, change in how much they free-ranged, etc.? A bird who feather-picks usually is either bored or deficient in something, which means any kind of change could have given the feather-picker a reason to stop. Sometimes a bird who is molting can become a feather-picker as well, however, as they crave protein to help regrow those feathers.

I don't think that it would be the vitiligo at that point, unless this was during the time where he's had depigmentation. The feather quality issues associated with vitiligo occur along with the characteristic depigmentation as the feathers regrow, at least from my understanding.

This was exactly when his feathers were changing colors, and the ones that grew back were white, as have been all the others since- I didn’t get any pictures I saved because I took him to the vet. He lives with the infamous Wanda, who has always been a “picker”. She used to pull the tops of my shoes apart when she was younger, and I saw her pulling his feather years ago. Maybe I am blaming her falsely after all this time! I’ve never seen her pull anything on him or any other bird since, I just assumed that it had to be her. Absolutely nothing was changed at that time and it was summer, their active happy time of year. I was happy it finally healed up but it was bizarre. Now I will wonder about the vitiligo but I don’t know why the other hens heads are showing white flecks. It’s not everyone, just about a quarter of them.

 

[minaayindra]

That’s wonderful. I always hoped mine could live very long lives with excellent care. The only hens I have lost were one to a hawk, one to a coyote, one from a broken leg that wouldn’t heal, and one who just laid down on the ground and seemed to fall asleep while sunning herself. Unfortunately, she passed away for unknown reasons.

 

[minaayindra]

Your hens look to me like they just have the feather sheaths stuck on some of their feathers. It's hard to tell for sure from the pictures because they blur when I try to zoom, but the shape looks like feather sheaths to me. If that's not the case and those are actual feathers that are white, then I would think aging for them. I've only had it happen to a few of my old hens, not all of them. My very eldest at 13 years old does not have any white feathers, but a broodmate of hers had a few.

The rooster is pretty typical of vitiligo in chickens. It is not well studied beyond a line of birds who were selectively bred to have it trigger very early on in life in order to reliably be able to study vitiligo. Some of what we know about vitiligo in chickens, we aren't sure whether it goes for all chickens with vitiligo or coincidentally has occurred within that studied line alongside it. What we do know is that it seems to be a polygenic trait, and that birds with it don't very often show outward signs of autoimmune issues, so even if he is as robust and healthy as always it could still be vitiligo. There are rare feather quality issues with it, sometimes roosters can become infertile, and vision loss and eventual blindness is fairly common in the birds from the selectively bred line I mentioned above, but again it is unknown if that's the same with the randomly occurring vitiligo you see in backyard flocks or coincidental with the line for studying. Other than that, the birds outwardly show no signs of issues beyond that they have lost pigment in some or all of their plumage. Basically, all it does is cause the immune system to attack the cells that produce pigment for their feathers.

I just realized what you said earlier- you have a THIRTEEN year old hen?!? Wow, I had no idea they could live that long!

 

[minaayindra]

I just realized what you said earlier- you have a THIRTEEN year old hen?!? Wow, I had no idea they could live that long!

Sorry for so many messages- I did just look up photos of the SL chickens when their feathers start changing and it looks exactly like him. I guess he does have that.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Often a too crowded accommodation's is the cause of stress and feather pecking.
In one of the articles in the learning center are guidelines for the numbers you can keep in a coop and run, and the roost space they need to keep them happuly and healthy (average).

Yes, I considered that to fall under the category of boredom, as in stuck in a small pen without anything to do, but that's worth mentioning on its own as well. Bare minimum 4 square feet per bird inside the coop and 10 square feet per bird outside of the coop.

This was exactly when his feathers were changing colors- I didn’t get any pictures I saved because I took him to the vet. I was happy it finally healed up but it was bizarre.

This was exactly when his feathers were changing colors, and the ones that grew back were white, as have been all the others since- I didn’t get any pictures I saved because I took him to the vet. He lives with the infamous Wanda, who has always been a “picker”. She used to pull the tops of my shoes apart when she was younger, and I saw her pulling his feather years ago. Maybe I am blaming her falsely after all this time! I’ve never seen her pull anything on him or any other bird since, I just assumed that it had to be her. Absolutely nothing was changed at that time and it was summer, their active happy time of year. I was happy it finally healed up but it was bizarre. Now I will wonder about the vitiligo but I don’t know why the other hens heads are showing white flecks. It’s not everyone, just about a quarter of them.

Interesting. Perhaps it was related to vitiligo! I'd keep an eye on that next molting season and see if it becomes an issue again.

I don't think the little white flecks on the girls are related to vitiligo, but obviously keep an eye on them for more white emerging.

I just realized what you said earlier- you have a THIRTEEN year old hen?!? Wow, I had no idea they could live that long!

Yes, she's my very eldest chicken I've ever had, an Easter-egger I got from the good old Tractor Supply chick bin back in spring of 2010. I also have a 12 year old and a couple 10 year olds in my flock, though one of those two has been pretty shaky lately so might not be with us much longer, the poor old gal. I've heard of chickens living into their 20's, though most often those are bantams and very few and far between. The average seems to be 6-8 years, however.

Sorry for so many messages- I did just look up photos of the SL chickens when their feathers start changing and it looks exactly like him. I guess he does have that.

No worries about the messages, it's absolutely fine! Yeah, he's a pretty textbook presentation for vitiligo.

 

[minaayindra]

Yes, I considered that to fall under the category of boredom, as in stuck in a small pen without anything to do, but that's worth mentioning on its own as well. Bare minimum 4 square feet per bird inside the coop and 10 square feet per bird outside of the coop.




Interesting. Perhaps it was related to vitiligo! I'd keep an eye on that next molting season and see if it becomes an issue again.

I don't think the little white flecks on the girls are related to vitiligo, but obviously keep an eye on them for more white emerging.




Yes, she's my very eldest chicken I've ever had, an Easter-egger I got from the good old Tractor Supply chick bin back in spring of 2010. I also have a 12 year old and a couple 10 year olds in my flock, though one of those two has been pretty shaky lately so might not be with us much longer, the poor old gal. I've heard of chickens living into their 20's, though most often those are bantams and very few and far between. The average seems to be 6-8 years, however.




No worries about the messages, it's absolutely fine! Yeah, he's a pretty textbook presentation for vitiligo.

 

[minaayindra]

They have tons of space- I invested a lot of money on professionally built coops with roost bars, power for radiant heat and sand bedding since it provides grit, keeps down bugs, and is far more sanitary. Lots of room was high on my list and they really enjoy it (of course it required 5 coops to make everyone happy but so worth it!).

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

They have tons of space- I invested a lot of money on professionally built coops with roost bars, power for radiant heat and sand bedding since it provides grit, keeps down bugs, and is far more sanitary. Lots of room was high on my list and they really enjoy it (of course it required 5 coops to make everyone happy but so worth it!).

I assumed! Feather picking from overcrowding doesn't tend to resolve itself without changes that I'm sure you would have mentioned in response to my other questions had they been a factor. Definitely worth it to build as big as you can for these birds, especially if you live somewhere that gets a significant amount of snow in the winter!

 

[minaayindra]

I assumed! Feather picking from overcrowding doesn't tend to resolve itself without changes that I'm sure you would have mentioned in response to my other questions had they been a factor. Definitely worth it to build as big as you can for these birds, especially if you live somewhere that gets a significant amount of snow in the winter!

Yes and yes!