Red Boodies and vents..... no feathers on neck

[spish]

do you have a rooster who could be using these two as his favourite girls? (rubbing off the feathers at the back, holding on to neck feathers with beak?)

edit - sorry just saw pics...maybe not!

 

[PunkinPeep]

No one is pecking them as they are at the top of the pecking order-- the red boodies are chapped -- could a molt last 4 months? We use DE as needed and none of the BO or EE or RIR or SLW are having any issues--only the 3 BA -- we do not have a rooster-

 

[PunkinPeep]

Quote:
I didn't know this. If they go through a mini-molt, do the necessarily lose a lot of feathers? Do they stop laying sometimes?

 

[Bedste]

Their bodies look very uncomfortable and chapped

 

[Bedste]

Just looked at these girls yesterday and their boodies are now bright red and featherless totally and naked necks too...... still only the Black Australorps

 

[Lollipop]

As mentioned several times in this thread, red skin in bare areas is perfectly normal. It`s not chapped and it`s not sunburned, but the sun does turn it red. It is not painfull to the bird. Don`t overdo the protein increase. A little extra is good, a lot extra is not. Seems to me that some birds are predisposed to having bare skin showing in random places. If your girls are getting around 20% protein in their diet and on a commercial layer feed, they should be fine, ugly perhaps, but fine. Nothing to worry about...........Pop

 

[Jody]

What a coincidence. I was just coming to BYC to ask about a similar problem with my mature Barred Rock hen.. somewhere around 2 and half to 3yrs old, but with my situation her neck is fine, but her backside has bare spots and it's been this way for around 3 and half to four months. No pecking issues as her and the two hens she lives with have been together their whole lives and they stick together.. the three of them defend each other from the rooster during free range.. roo lives in separate housing and we only just got him not even 2wks ago.

I noticed today all of the birds pecking at themselves in the rear, so maybe mites or lice.. I dusted with DE and will have to run out for some poultry dust or sevindust.

Here's pic.

 

[Lollipop]

Jody, to check for lice/mites, pick her off the roost at night and use a good flashlight to check around the vent and under the tail. If one has them, they all do. Sevin Dust is the weapon of choice. Don`t forget to dust the nests, roost, and floor/walls. Doesn`t look like lice or mites to me, but doesn`t hurt to check...........Pop

 

[speckledhen]

Most of the time, the 9 month molt is subtle, with missing neck and butt feathers, but last year, I had some that age go through a much longer than normal one, complete with big time weight loss. It was really weird.