dani_6chicks
Hatching
- Dec 9, 2025
- 2
- 0
- 4
Help! And please be kind.
First time chicken mama here (first chickies came home last March).
I recently discovered that my 2 buffs were getting the downy feathers from their fluffy bums pecked by a couple bored menaces in our tiny flock of 6. It was definitely going on for longer than I realized (cue the MAJOR chicken mama guilt).
I saw it in action. The stern talk did nothing, but focusing on upping their protein, and bringing in boredom busters has for sure helped tremendously.
One buff is doing wonderfully and her feathers are filling back in nicely. The other, well, she’s on the struggle bus. She had some more severe damage, as she had some skin affected, and it’s been a much more treacherous process.
I separate her into a large dog crate during the daylight hours, so we don’t face further pecking. I’ve attempted to very gently clean the raw area and apply Hen Healer, but have backed off of that the past few days to allow the skin to rest a little. I went and grabbed the Vetericyn antimicrobial spray yesterday, and have been trying to gently clean it a couple times a day.
It’s cold here out west of St. Louis, MO, and although their run has been winterized and they don’t have wind hitting them, I’m guessing the cold doesn’t help the redness/chapped looking skin. I don’t see her messing with the area hardly at all, except if I have done anything to it. No frantic preening or itching. She has zero feather loss anywhere else.
So, what to do? Any thoughts? Could this be the dreaded depluming mite infesting her? That was mentioned as a likely cause, but I can’t say that I am convinced. I know birds more susceptible to them could show signs before the others. But I’m at a loss. She’s got a small amount of feathers that are growing back in, so that makes me think that perhaps this might *not* be those pesky little burrowing nightmares. But I’m no pro and don’t have a long history with being a chicken tender.
Also, I guess I should add that their enclosed run has a sand floor that is sifted pretty regularly. They get a sprinkle of First Saturday Lime on occasion in there, too. Their coop has pine bedding (which was just recently replaced completely). I recently brought in some straw to help entertain them - which would be my main fear with potential mites - but the feather loss (from plucking I witnessed) happened before then.
I’m not sure what other helpful info I can include, so please advise if there’s anything in question I haven’t mentioned.
The dark/caked perimeter feathers are from the multiple applications of Hen Healer over the course of the past week or so.
First time chicken mama here (first chickies came home last March).
I recently discovered that my 2 buffs were getting the downy feathers from their fluffy bums pecked by a couple bored menaces in our tiny flock of 6. It was definitely going on for longer than I realized (cue the MAJOR chicken mama guilt).
I saw it in action. The stern talk did nothing, but focusing on upping their protein, and bringing in boredom busters has for sure helped tremendously.
One buff is doing wonderfully and her feathers are filling back in nicely. The other, well, she’s on the struggle bus. She had some more severe damage, as she had some skin affected, and it’s been a much more treacherous process.
I separate her into a large dog crate during the daylight hours, so we don’t face further pecking. I’ve attempted to very gently clean the raw area and apply Hen Healer, but have backed off of that the past few days to allow the skin to rest a little. I went and grabbed the Vetericyn antimicrobial spray yesterday, and have been trying to gently clean it a couple times a day.
It’s cold here out west of St. Louis, MO, and although their run has been winterized and they don’t have wind hitting them, I’m guessing the cold doesn’t help the redness/chapped looking skin. I don’t see her messing with the area hardly at all, except if I have done anything to it. No frantic preening or itching. She has zero feather loss anywhere else.
So, what to do? Any thoughts? Could this be the dreaded depluming mite infesting her? That was mentioned as a likely cause, but I can’t say that I am convinced. I know birds more susceptible to them could show signs before the others. But I’m at a loss. She’s got a small amount of feathers that are growing back in, so that makes me think that perhaps this might *not* be those pesky little burrowing nightmares. But I’m no pro and don’t have a long history with being a chicken tender.
Also, I guess I should add that their enclosed run has a sand floor that is sifted pretty regularly. They get a sprinkle of First Saturday Lime on occasion in there, too. Their coop has pine bedding (which was just recently replaced completely). I recently brought in some straw to help entertain them - which would be my main fear with potential mites - but the feather loss (from plucking I witnessed) happened before then.
I’m not sure what other helpful info I can include, so please advise if there’s anything in question I haven’t mentioned.
The dark/caked perimeter feathers are from the multiple applications of Hen Healer over the course of the past week or so.
and welcome to BYC, thanks for joining. Second, relax, nobody is going to bash you here. We're just here to help and we all know things like this happen to everybody, it does not make you a bad "chicken tender," lol. You can clean her, if you have to, by spaying with a homemade saline solution or Veterycin so you don't have to scrub, rub, wipe or even touch her, and since it's cold, use hair dryer on low to dry her off. Not sure if a little coating of Original Neosporin is called for here. (Pain reliever is toxic to chickens.) Let me ask some of the Educators what they think, I'll tag them in.
