Pink....Butts....

[Epicnyan124]

Ok so one of my chickens have lost their feathers on their butt.At first I thought the feathers will grow back.After a few weeks the chicken's bottom is the same.Why aren't the feathers growing back?Did I do something wrong?

 

[BantamLover21]

Don't worry, you probably haven't done anything wrong. First of all, check them for mites. Look on the skin under their wings, near the vent, and under the neck feathers. If you see any moving black specks (mites) or larger yellow blobs (lice), your birds have external parasites. Dust them with Sevin dust or use a q-tip to apply Frontline dog spray on the skin near their vent.

If not external parasites, I really don't know what could be causing the feather loss. I've seen it happen in others' chickens, but never in mine. I wish you luck in determining the problem!

 

[Epicnyan124]

Don't worry, you probably haven't done anything wrong. First of all, check them for mites. Look on the skin under their wings, near the vent, and under the neck feathers. If you see any moving black specks (mites) or larger yellow blobs (lice), your birds have external parasites. Dust them with Sevin dust or use a q-tip to apply Frontline dog spray on the skin near their vent. 

If not external parasites, I really don't know what could be causing the feather loss. I've seen it happen in others' chickens, but never in mine. I wish you luck in determining the problem!

Ah,okay.I'll do those now

 

[Mtn Laurel]

I've got the same thing going on with one of my hens. Her butt is almost bald and there's no feathers under her wings. She's even lost the feathers on her head. I've checked for mites and lice and don't see any. I've upped her protein with no result except she's laying huge eggs daily. She's 1 1/2 yrs. old and has never molted. I'm thinking she's doing some kind of mini-molt with the heat we're having.

Can't say that I blame her, either. It's so hot I'd like to be able to take off my "feathers" and run around, too!

 

[BantamLover21]

I've got the same thing going on with one of my hens. Her butt is almost bald and there's no feathers under her wings. She's even lost the feathers on her head. I've checked for mites and lice and don't see any. I've upped her protein with no result except she's laying huge eggs daily. She's 1 1/2 yrs. old and has never molted. I'm thinking she's doing some kind of mini-molt with the heat we're having.

Can't say that I blame her, either. It's so hot I'd like to be able to take off my "feathers" and run around, too!

Mtn Laurel, do you have any roosters? And yes, chickens do sometimes do "mini molts" at certain times of year, so that could be it. I don't think its any life-threatening problem.

 

[Mickey Lou 04]

I had a chick do that this year but it turned out to be an internal parasite. After that the bird was very slow grower. I suppose it could be the same thing. I looked and couldn't find any mites or lice, but when I took him to the vet the ran a fecal sample and it was a internal parasite. I would suggest that if it doesn't clear up to have them tested. I wish I had too pics the poor thing was almost completely bare. It turned out to be a barred cochin bantam.

Not even a hen. Oh' well, I have some really friendly birds now after hand feeding them meds twice a day for three weeks.

 

[Mtn Laurel]

Mtn Laurel, do you have any roosters? And yes, chickens do sometimes do "mini molts" at certain times of year, so that could be it. I don't think its any life-threatening problem.

No roo's at all. Lucy is a red sex link and has been a prolific layer since day #1. She's always looked "ratty" where her black sex link sisters have these glorious coats that shine in the sun. Of course, the sisters aren't half the layer that Lucy is. They get fermented feed that has a base of layer pellets and pellets are available to them 24/7 in their feeder. Not a lot of snacks - no scratch [they don't like it, believe it or not] - and their snacks are either BOSS, crimped oats, greens or veggies from the garden. No feather-picking by the sisters, either, that I've observed and I watch "chicken TV" quite a bit.

I've checked for external bugs and they were wormed a few months ago, too. The BSL sisters had a molt in January and Lucy - who is older by several months - didn't molt. She's 1 1/2 yrs. old and has never molted.

I'm thinking she's going to look progressively ratty until such time as she does a full molt. I've done all I can think of to do and she still looks "disreputable", as my husband describes her!

 

[BantamLover21]

No roo's at all. Lucy is a red sex link and has been a prolific layer since day #1. She's always looked "ratty" where her black sex link sisters have these glorious coats that shine in the sun. Of course, the sisters aren't half the layer that Lucy is. They get fermented feed that has a base of layer pellets and pellets are available to them 24/7 in their feeder. Not a lot of snacks - no scratch [they don't like it, believe it or not] - and their snacks are either BOSS, crimped oats, greens or veggies from the garden. No feather-picking by the sisters, either, that I've observed and I watch "chicken TV" quite a bit.

I've checked for external bugs and they were wormed a few months ago, too. The BSL sisters had a molt in January and Lucy - who is older by several months - didn't molt. She's 1 1/2 yrs. old and has never molted.

I'm thinking she's going to look progressively ratty until such time as she does a full molt. I've done all I can think of to do and she still looks "disreputable", as my husband describes her!

Good layers often are more raggedy than non-layers. They put all of their energy in into laying eggs, not looking pretty. When she goes through a molt, she will probably look much better.

 

[Shadow722]

My rooster is a blue splash maran and he was with 2 hens of his breed when I got them. I also got 11 Rhode Island Reds and decided to put them Blue Splash and Reds together. My rooster has been very busy with 13 hens and lost his long tail feathers and his butt is pink. I was thinking he was just over worked with all those hens. He is very busy getting all the hens. He has 3 red hens in particular that roost with him and the other 2 blue splash hens.

 

[Shadow722]

I found lice on my chickens and dusted them with some livestock dust that came in a ziplock bag. It is similar to Sevin Dust but it was 3 times as much powder for only twice the price. It had directions for poultry on the bag as well.

Is it safe to eat the eggs during and shortly after the time they are dusted?