Patchy Feathers: Lice? Mites? Molting?

[my sunwolf]

This red sex-link hen's name is Zoe. We bought her as a laying adult (the man said she was 1 yr) in March, along with 3 other hens. Zoe and 2 others had bald patches on the tops of their heads. Zoe also had the most raggedy feathers--you can see there are bare patches on the flight feathers. The ends of her feathers are also ragged and torn. I thought she was molting, but I'm still not sure how long a molt is supposed to last: 1 month? 6 months? I gave her some tuna fish to help speed up her molt, but didn't see any improvement.

I haven't seen any bugs on them or in their coop, even at night, but I've heard that some bugs are very difficult to see because they're tiny.

Zoe is otherwise healthy: bright red comb, no scaly legs, laying an egg almost daily (which goes against my molting theory), and foraging actively with the rest of the flock.

Does this look like a case of lice or mites?

Will try to post more pics soon.

 

[dawg53]

It's also possible her previous owner had a rooster, which would be the culprit due to treading the hens.

 

[BantyChickenLuv]

Is there little specks that you can see clearly on her bottom or under her wing, in the "armpit"?

 

[my sunwolf]

No little specks. My dominant hen treads one of the other girls every couple of days, though the missing feathers are not just on the back but also on her chest. Here are more pics:

Top of the wing:


Her back:


Top of her head:


Under her wing:


Her chest:


Her feet:


Her feathers look a bit "moldy," definitely torn at the tips and sometimes have tiny spots of black on them (not bugs, juts coloring). She looks more raggedy every day!

 

[BantyChickenLuv]

I almost want to say molting. I have a Golden Sex Link who was molting like that, but only on her wings. What breed is the hen?

 

[my sunwolf]

I almost want to say molting. I have a Golden Sex Link who was molting like that, but only on her wings. What breed is the hen?

They're red sex links (same thing as golden sex links). They take daily dust baths, so it's not as likely that she would have mites (right?). I hope it's just molting. But at the same time, if she's taking 6 months to molt, she's probably not going to lay very well after it ends! Thanks for your reply

 

[my sunwolf]

Here's an update. Zoe is doing amazing! I think she had gone through a partial stress molt before we brought her home, which caused her to lose a bunch of her feathers in the off-season. This fall, she molted fully with the rest of the hens and grew back all of her missing feathers with shiny new ones within a few weeks. Here are some pictures:








I'm really proud of her. Hope this helps people like me take it easy and know that chickens kept in a healthy situation will often fix their own problems.