Protein deficiency or mites??

[RADK]

Hello, I know there are many posts asking this type of question… but I just am not sure. Hoping to get some help.

My girls are 6 months old (so not old enough to molt, correct?)

I have been noticing slight feather loss on some of them for about 2 months. Just looked like fuzzy feathers where their back meets their tail. But it’s gotten worse recently and I am starting to get concerned.

About half of them have some degree of broken feathers in this spot. Some at the base, some broken half way down the feather.

My worst girl is developing a bald spot there, as well as a new bald spot under her tail, above her vent. The feathers around the vent itself look normal. See photos below:

Above her vent:

The other affected hens aren’t as bad:

Legs and under wings look fine. I tried to get a good look at the base of fully feathered areas, but they are so full of grit from their dust bathing area it’s hard to see what I am looking at. I figure what I am seeing is mostly from their dust bath because when they fluff their feathers up on the roost a shower of soil rains down on the poop board. I don’t think I saw anything that resembles the foamy balls that mite eggs are described as?

I went in at night and ran a white paper under the roosts - no red smears. So no red mites?

Nutrition

They get 17% layer mash with additional shell and bone meal on the side, plus grazing, plus some table scraps we toss over the fence. Plus I gave them a pumpkin to carve

Production

By 20 weeks, we were getting 12 eggs a day from 12 hens.
A couple weeks ago they dropped down to 11 a day, and now 10. There has been a dip in temperature and natural daylight, and I give them 14.5 hours of daylight via supplemental light in mornings and evenings.

One hen was egg bound last week and laid 2 soft eggs in 20 minutes once she was able to pass it. I am treating her with calcium citrate plus vitamin D and will for 7 days. That is the only hen currently receiving special treatment.

Feather pecking

I have not been noticing feather pecking, but I am only with them 30 to 60 minutes a day. I did notice one peck at the bald area on the worst girl’s back when I went in to take photos tonight. It could be it is happening and I am just not there to see it.

Thoughts?? I am crossing my fingers for a protein deficiency, as I feel that will be much easier to deal with.

 

[Jaeden Mckinley]

Hello, I know there are many posts asking this type of question… but I just am not sure. Hoping to get some help.

My girls are 6 months old (so not old enough to molt, correct?)

I have been noticing slight feather loss on some of them for about 2 months. Just looked like fuzzy feathers where their back meets their tail. But it’s gotten worse recently and I am starting to get concerned.

About half of them have some degree of broken feathers in this spot. Some at the base, some broken half way down the feather.View attachment 3666881 My worst girl is developing a bald spot there, as well as a new bald spot under her tail, above her vent. The feathers around the vent itself look normal. See photos below:

View attachment 3666869
View attachment 3666870
Above her vent: View attachment 3666871

The other affected hens aren’t as bad: View attachment 3666879
View attachment 3666880

Legs and under wings look fine. I tried to get a good look at the base of fully feathered areas, but they are so full of grit from their dust bathing area it’s hard to see what I am looking at. I figure what I am seeing is mostly from their dust bath because when they fluff their feathers up on the roost a shower of soil rains down on the poop board. I don’t think I saw anything that resembles the foamy balls that mite eggs are described as?

I went in at night and ran a white paper under the roosts - no red smears. So no red mites?

Nutrition

They get 17% layer mash with additional shell and bone meal on the side, plus grazing, plus some table scraps we toss over the fence. Plus I gave them a pumpkin to carve

Production

By 20 weeks, we were getting 12 eggs a day from 12 hens.
A couple weeks ago they dropped down to 11 a day, and now 10. There has been a dip in temperature and natural daylight, and I give them 14.5 hours of daylight via supplemental light in mornings and evenings.

One hen was egg bound last week and laid 2 soft eggs in 20 minutes once she was able to pass it. I am treating her with calcium citrate plus vitamin D and will for 7 days. That is the only hen currently receiving special treatment.

Feather pecking

I have not been noticing feather pecking, but I am only with them 30 to 60 minutes a day. I did notice one peck at the bald area on the worst girl’s back when I went in to take photos tonight. It could be it is happening and I am just not there to see it.

Thoughts?? I am crossing my fingers for a protein deficiency, as I feel that will be much easier to deal with.

1. Do you have any Roosters?

2. The hens could be establishing their pecking order

3. Molting is a maybe dosent look like it though

 

[RADK]

1. Do you have any Roosters?

2. The hens could be establishing their pecking order

3. Molting is a maybe dosent look like it though

No roosters

If it is pecking order, anything I can do to help it stop? Temperatures are going to drop below freezing soon and I don’t want naked birds running around!

 

[coach723]

There are some pin feathers showing in the picture above the vent, so she may be doing a partial molt. There is a very broad range of molting and it's completely normal. Even birds this young can sometimes do it, even though it's not the 'average'. It also could be feather loss from feather picking. That is often an issue of space, and it often happens on the roosts. So you may need to add roosts or change spacing. Some birds like to snuggle, some demand space, so it really depends on the particular birds. One very dominant bird can make a space too small. The only factor that really matters is how your birds are acting. More dominant birds will sometimes do this to lower pecking order birds. I had to completely redo my roosting layout at one point so they couldn't roost butt to head, I had bare butts everywhere. And sometimes in a flock without a rooster, and dominant hen will do mounting behavior, and that can result in the backs above the tail getting bald.
Any kind of stress can impact laying, even a predator hanging around the coop at night. Daylight hours is what affects laying, not temperature. 14-16 hours is needed to trigger laying. Some birds are more sensitive to changes in that than others. If you want them to keep laying, then you may need to up it to 16 hours of light.
Having said that, there are things to consider in using supplemental light. If your goals are just to have eggs, that will work. But it can also shorten their lives in the long run. Many birds will lay through their first year pretty regularly, and as they get older their bodies will naturally take a break during molt, and many for the entire winter. That is how their bodies are intended to work. When you force them to lay year round, they don't get the natural break. The older they get, then the winter break as the days get shorter is more common. Every bird is a little different. They will stop laying when they molt, and you can't force that. They can't lay and grow feathers at the same time, it takes too much energy. So starting between 12 and 18 months old, and from then on, they will usually molt annually every year and egg production will drop in your flock, those that are molting will stop laying until molt is complete. That can be weeks to months for each bird and can vary year to year and from bird to bird. Some will start laying again in fall or winter after molt, some won't start again until spring when daylight hours lengthen again (without light supplement). Annual molt is usually seen starting in late summer to fall, but can happen earlier in spring/summer, or in the dead of winter. All are considered normal. I had a bird for years that ALWAYS started molt in April. Like clockwork. As long as they can get out of prevailing winds, and stay dry, they usually do fine, no matter what time of year.

 

[RADK]

There are some pin feathers showing in the picture above the vent, so she may be doing a partial molt. There is a very broad range of molting and it's completely normal. Even birds this young can sometimes do it, even though it's not the 'average'. It also could be feather loss from feather picking. That is often an issue of space, and it often happens on the roosts. So you may need to add roosts or change spacing. Some birds like to snuggle, some demand space, so it really depends on the particular birds. One very dominant bird can make a space too small. The only factor that really matters is how your birds are acting. More dominant birds will sometimes do this to lower pecking order birds. I had to completely redo my roosting layout at one point so they couldn't roost butt to head, I had bare butts everywhere. And sometimes in a flock without a rooster, and dominant hen will do mounting behavior, and that can result in the backs above the tail getting bald.
Any kind of stress can impact laying, even a predator hanging around the coop at night. Daylight hours is what affects laying, not temperature. 14-16 hours is needed to trigger laying. Some birds are more sensitive to changes in that than others. If you want them to keep laying, then you may need to up it to 16 hours of light.
Having said that, there are things to consider in using supplemental light. If your goals are just to have eggs, that will work. But it can also shorten their lives in the long run. Many birds will lay through their first year pretty regularly, and as they get older their bodies will naturally take a break during molt, and many for the entire winter. That is how their bodies are intended to work. When you force them to lay year round, they don't get the natural break. The older they get, then the winter break as the days get shorter is more common. Every bird is a little different. They will stop laying when they molt, and you can't force that. They can't lay and grow feathers at the same time, it takes too much energy. So starting between 12 and 18 months old, and from then on, they will usually molt annually every year and egg production will drop in your flock, those that are molting will stop laying until molt is complete. That can be weeks to months for each bird and can vary year to year and from bird to bird. Some will start laying again in fall or winter after molt, some won't start again until spring when daylight hours lengthen again (without light supplement). Annual molt is usually seen starting in late summer to fall, but can happen earlier in spring/summer, or in the dead of winter. All are considered normal. I had a bird for years that ALWAYS started molt in April. Like clockwork. As long as they can get out of prevailing winds, and stay dry, they usually do fine, no matter what time of year.

Thank you for your input! Very informative and helpful.
I am seeing the feather pecking now so I think that must be the culprit. 2 have bald patches and the 1 above had a small wound starting.
I separated her immediately, and bought some anti-pick spray which I sprayed liberally on the back/tail of all the hens. Hopefully this works!!

Because of the shorter days, they are spending more time inside the coop together which must be causing this drama. I’d like them to lay year round (hence the lights) as we don’t want to have inputs and no outputs through our long Manitoba winters. Today I added a mirror for extra enrichment, and plan to add one more roost and a hanging toy for them to peck at. Tomorrow I will string some Christmas lights in their run so they have more space to roam. Fingers crossed that it isn’t too late for the 2 bald ones already.

Would hen aprons/saddles be useful to give them time to heal? Not sure if those are used for this or just for rooster damage…

 

[coach723]

You can use saddles, it may help. Just make sure they don't rub and irritate the skin. The feathers will grow back eventually, when they molt, as long as you can stop the picking.