Please help me!! I have a chicken losing her feathers and I dont know why.

[chickkeeper3]

I have a chicken that lost a lot of feathers overnight. They just molted not too long ago so I do not think that is whats happening. I have been trying to do some research on it and I am at a loss. I don't think its mites or lice but I could be wrong. She does not get pecked by the other chickens but I did isolate her just in case. I made sure to give her a place to dust bathe in case it is mites or lice. she is the only chicken like this, happened overnight she is active went outside earlier today and stayed out all day, she eats drinks, and she is still laying. Her comb is flopped over a bit but it is not pale. She does peck at the base of her tail feathers and there is some dried blood there but other than that she does not peck at herself. The chickens are fed well, they're area is cleaned on a regular basis, they have access to dust bathes daily (and they all love dust bathing). I wanted to see if anyone can help me!!! I will attach some photos down below. One picture is of her feet because I know some mites can cause the scaled to raise on their feet but hers are not and the black stuff is just mud from being outside today. I appreciate anyone that can help me I am desperate!!!

 

[nuthatched]

Looks like heavy molt. Make sure she's getting enough protein, like with chick starter

 

[Stravager]

How old is the chicken and when was her last molt?

 

[Eggcessive]

It looks like molting. Perhaps this chicken did not molt when the others did. That can happen.

 

[chickkeeper3]

How old is the chicken and when was her last molt?

3 years old, she molted around the last week of December and first week of January. We had a decent snow/ice storm that lasted all week last week and the temperatures got down to -11F and stayed below freezing all of last week and this week temps have been 40F and it got up to 60F today could that be the cause of it?

 

[Eggcessive]

Stress can cause a sudden molt, but I would wonder if this one didn’t molt when the others did.

 

[chickkeeper3]

Stress can cause a sudden molt, but I would wonder if this one didn’t molt when the others did.

We did have a decent snow storm and had freezing temperatures all of last week and it did get into the negatives. this week has been 40F degree weather and today it got up to 60F. Could that have caused it?

 

[Stravager]

3 years old, she molted around the last week of December and first week of January. We had a decent snow/ice storm that lasted all week last week and the temperatures got down to -11F and stayed below freezing all of last week and this week temps have been 40F and it got up to 60F today could that be the cause of it?

Drastic weather shifts have been known to trigger molts. If she has no signs of other distress or parasites (of which I can't see evidence of anything from the pictures), I would chalk it up to that. Make sure she has a little extra protein to help grow the new feathers. @Eggcessive would you agree?

 

[Eggcessive]

Drastic weather shifts have been known to trigger molts. If she has no signs of other distress or parasites (of which I can't see evidence of anything from the pictures), I would chalk it up to that. Make sure she has a little extra protein to help grow the new feathers. @Eggcessive would you agree?

Sure, I agree. Extra protein won’t hurt.

 

[Eggcessive]

We did have a decent snow storm and had freezing temperatures all of last week and it did get into the negatives. this week has been 40F degree weather and today it got up to 60F. Could that have caused it?

Yes.