Plucked feathers on the head and back

[KristinaM]

Hello again
It wasn’t hard to notice that all my hens are missing feathers on their backs, they’re practically naked. They also have bald spots on their heads. So my thought is it’s either lice or mites that I’m trying to get rid of with permetrin, since I have an invasion and a couple of my chickens passed away, one this morning, but my roosters don’t have bare backs only hens. I was wondering if anyone had a similar problem. I do have way too many roosters so that could also be the problem since they do the job very often, so maybe they are the cause of that problem? (Picture 1)
Another question, about the other picture, does anyone think my Brahma’s feet look a bit off? They seem a bit too red…I’m also not sure if everything is alright so it’s better to consult then let a problem get way too deep. (Picture 2)

 

[Tonyroo]

It's the roosters, you have too many and get your infestation under control before you lose all your chickens.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Are they roosters or cockerels? They're cockerels until they are a year old, and cockerels from 3 months on are crazy with hormones. Separate the boys into their own pen until they are older and keep no more thsn one male to 10 females. And not until the females begin to lay. Get rid of your extra males, you don't need them.

The feet and legs on the male are red because he is very flush with male hormones, testosterone. Normal.

 

[21hens-incharge]

First pic shows damage from being overbred. Second pic are healthy male chicken legs.

Bare heads and backs are breeding damage.

Are you certain there are parasites? If so that needs addressed asap to prevent deaths from being drained of blood.
The birds AND the coop need treated if there are parasites. It has to be repeated in 7-10 days to kill off the newly hatched bugs. If it's bad enough to kill your birds then I would recommend at least 4 treatments at 7 days apart. You have to remove all bedding (dispose of by tightly bagging and putting in trash cans or burn) and spray every nook and cranny in the coop.

To many males needs addressed to prevent deaths from over breeding and stress.

 

[LaFleche]

How many males and how many females do you keep together?

What age?

What are the dimensions of your coop and run?

Do they free range at all?

 

[KristinaM]

Are they roosters or cockerels? They're cockerels until they are a year old, and cockerels from 3 months on are crazy with hormones. Separate the boys into their own pen until they are older and keep no more thsn one male to 10 females. And not until the females begin to lay. Get rid of your extra males, you don't need them.

The feet and legs on the male are red because he is very flush with male hormones, testosterone. Normal.

They’re all roosters, today I separated them from the hens. My sister and I will build another chicken coop since the mites got out of control. I made them a spray with Neopitroid Alpha, the main ingredients are permetrin and alpha cypermethrin. I sprayed the coop with ash, dirt, different insecticides even some tablets that are lit on fire and then they smoke the coop and nothing helped and unfortunately I don’t have Elector PSP available in Croatia and I can’t even order it online. I even tried some “old ways” like rosemary, pig fat… So I settled for Neopitroid since it’s the only choice I have.

Another problem I have is some chickens are sneezing a lot and they have rattling breath. I tried giving them antibiotics but they didn’t help. They’re still normally eating, drinking water, their poop is fine. I thought it was maybe gapeworm or some different lung parasite, but as I say again I’m not too sure what to do…

 

[KristinaM]

How many males and how many females do you keep together?

What age?

What are the dimensions of your coop and run?

Do they free range at all?

I have 7 roosters and 24 chickens…it’s wayyy too many roosters. They are all around 1/2 year olds. The coop is cca 7m2 and they do free range almost every day. Also I’m always on the lookout so when I hear any problem I’m right there to help. All my roosters are really calm and they don’t fight. Two roosters are ill and one doesn’t even try to mate anymore, Silkie just mates with Silkies, he’s not even interested in other hens. Basically three roosters mate with almost every hen.

 

[LaFleche]

I have 7 roosters and 24 chickens…it’s wayyy too many roosters. They are all around 1/2 year olds. The coop is cca 7m2 and they do free range almost every day. Also I’m always on the lookout so when I hear any problem I’m right there to help. All my roosters are really calm and they don’t fight. Two roosters are ill and one doesn’t even try to mate anymore, Silkie just mates with Silkies, he’s not even interested in other hens. Basically three roosters mate with almost every hen.

I just red you above thread where you mention that they are suffering from some kind of respiratory disease.
So please, do not rehome any of your males so to not transmit diseases to other people's flocks.

As you already stated, that's way too many males, so maybe just keep one or two ( Silkie and...?)
This will reduce the overall stress and related disorders immensely.

 

[KristinaM]

I just red you above thread where you mention that they are suffering from some kind of respiratory disease.
So please, do not rehome any of your males so to not transmit diseases to other people's flocks.

As you already stated, that's way too many males, so maybe just keep one or two ( Silkie and...?)
This will reduce the overall stress and related disorders immensely.

Yeah, that’s also what I’m thinking, I can’t rehome ill roosters, for now I’ll just keep them separated, hens with a Silkie, Cochin and a Brahma roosters as guards since they almost don’t even care about the ladies and the others will be prisoners I have a 20m2 space in my garden which I think will be enough for 4 roosters, others will free roam.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

When you say you have "7 roosters and 24 chickens," I'm a little confused, as roosters are male chickens. Do you have 24 chickens altogether, or do you mean you have 7 roosters and 24 hens?