One of our Buff Orpington Chickens has been losing a lot of her back feathers, any idea as to what's happening?

[Fluffy Chicken Birds]

We think it may be bullying, but we're not sure how to deal with it or if it is really bullying. We see her getting pecked, which leads us to believe that the problem is bullying.

She's also antisocial, and avoids us and other chickens a lot. She's been getting feces tangled in her rear feathers every once in a while, while our others chickens don't seem to struggle with that.

 

[SilverBirds]

Can you repost the pictures using the the attach files button?
Have you checked her over for mites? Do you have any roosters? How many hens and how much coop/run space do they have?

 

[Fluffy Chicken Birds]

Can you repost the pictures using the the attach files button?
Have you checked her over for mites? Do you have any roosters? How many hens and how much coop/run space do they have?

I don't think it's mites, as the rest of the hens don't show any symptoms of mites. We have no roosters, and have 6 hens. We don't have too much room, but it seems to be adequate.

 

[Rose the Legbar]

What do you feed them?

 

[SilverBirds]

I don't think it's mites, as the rest of the hens don't show any symptoms of mites. We have no roosters, and have 6 hens. We don't have too much room, but it seems to be adequate.

It looks like you have a small prefab coop. Most prefabs can't hold nearly as many birds as they claim. Being in the small quarters for most or all of the day can lead to boredom, which leads to bullying in the flock. I would see if you can extend your current run (it's recommended to have 8sqft-10sqft per bird). Adding enrichment gives them something to do and obstacles/hides can give bullied birds a chance to escape.

I would also double check for mites anyways. Mites are most active at night, so you can take a flashlight out at night when they're roosting and look under her feathers for small bugs.

As for her current feather condition, she probably won't grow any new feathers until the next big moult in the fall.

 

[Lelilamom]

I had a therapy chicken that was a buff (yes you read that correctly, a therapy chicken) and she was at the bottom of the pecking order. She was always missing feathers from being bullied. We eventually made her a separate but adjacent enclosure next to the rest of the hens.

The last year we had her she lived in her very own coop next to the front door of a neighbor recouperating from a double stroke. She stayed by his side from morning till night.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

She might benefit from wearing an apron. The feathers seem to be missing from the same areas that an overbred hen would be.

 

[Fluffy Chicken Birds]

It looks like you have a small prefab coop. Most prefabs can't hold nearly as many birds as they claim. Being in the small quarters for most or all of the day can lead to boredom, which leads to bullying in the flock. I would see if you can extend your current run (it's recommended to have 8sqft-10sqft per bird). Adding enrichment gives them something to do and obstacles/hides can give bullied birds a chance to escape.

I would also double check for mites anyways. Mites are most active at night, so you can take a flashlight out at night when they're roosting and look under her feathers for small bugs.

As for her current feather condition, she probably won't grow any new feathers until the next big moult in the fall.

Ok, thank you for the advice. We have limited room, so I don't think we could extend our coop. Is there anything you might recommend for a small coop to entertain our birds more? (Our coop is meant for supposedly 10 chickens, but no way can it fit that many. We have 6.)

 

[Fluffy Chicken Birds]

What do you feed them?

We give them organic egg layer crumbles.

 

[Lelilamom]

Maybe something like this, that you put up against your existing coop so the hens can see eachother without bullying because they're separated by the screening.