Recently Brooding Hen Loosing Tail & Wing Feathers

[ksg68]

I have a year old Easter Egger, Reese, who went broody for about 3 months. She finally gave up on trying to hatch her golf balls last week, w/in 2 days she was laying again & had taken back her original nightly spot on perch in the coop. About the same time as this I started to notice small downy feathers that look like the birds butt feathers in the run (mostly around the coop) followed by large feathers & that Reese was starting to loose her tail feathers (all the feathers I found looked clean). She now has no tail feathers & is loosing her wing feathers as well. While she was trying to hatch her golf balls she ate & took her dirt baths regularly, @ least twice a day.

I have 8 birds (all girls) & none of the others are showing signs of loosing their feathers though I am still finding the small downy feathers of various colors around the coop I can't tell where any of the other birds are loosing their feathers. I have seen no signs of any fighting, aggression or "pecking" on each other between any of the birds - no changes in their behavior towards each other or towards Reese. There have been no stressful events or changes in their routine & the only change to their food is the addition of black oil sunflower seeds. The only odd thing is that their egg productions has dropped from an average of 6 eggs a day to 2 or 3 eggs a day.

Is it normal for a bird who has just finished being broody to start loosing her feathers?

 

[donrae]

This is why it's not advisable to let a hen continue to set with no results. Some don't have a good "off" switch and brood far longer than is healthy for them. Brooding takes a lot out of a hen physically, and she's showing the effects.

I'm not sure why you kept golf balls under her? When a hen is broody, if you want her to raise chicks, then great, give her fertile eggs or have her set on decoys until you give her day old chicks. If you don't want her to raise chicks, the healthiest thing to do for her is to break her of being broody. The easiest way to do that is to put her in a wire bottom cage, elevated off the ground. In the cage give her food, water and a roost if you want, but no nesting area. It usually takes 3-5 days to break a hen this way, longer for some persistent birds. Giving her the golf balls just encouraged her to stay broody, with nothing to show for it and no cue for her to stop.

I'd increase her protein, and just keep an eye to be sure the other birds don't start pecking on her. It will take a while, but she'll get back to health.