Red bottom and missing feathers

[Peoples]

Hello, am new to chickens and one of my girls has a red bottom area and missing feathers. She is active, eating and acting normal other wise. I did not see any mites or lice near her feather roots. Any advice? Thanks in advance.

 

[apryl29]

It could be another bird is pecking at her feathers, or it could be mites. I'd thoroughly check your birds for mites and lice. If you don't find anything I'd pull up a chair and sit and watch your birds for a while. If someone's pecking at her you'll see it if you sit long enough. I have a couple girls who like to peck at pin feathers when others a molting. I end up putting the molter in a cage b/c I don't have space to lock up 3 or 4 others. Once the feathers grow back in they seem to stop.

 

[Peoples]

Thank you. Is there particular areas to check for lice and mites on their bodies? I checked around the area that is bald.

 

[apryl29]

Usually they say to look around their vent and under the wings. When my birds had mites I saw them crawling on my roosters legs first, but he had them pretty bad. With the girls I had to dig down into their feathers to get to their skin and part through the fluffy feathers on their bottom. I would check all your birds just to be sure, they could have them, but you might not see them. My rooster had them bad and his chest was bar of feathers and the skin was very red and irritated, almost like he had a sunburn. If you see them on one bird, the whole flock will need to be treated. Hopefully they don't have them, but it's always good to check.

 

[Peoples]

What treatment would you recommend if it is mites or lice? And if they are peaking her what would I do to stop that? Thank you for your guidance. I appreciate it. Am new to back yard chickens and only have 4.

 

[apryl29]

I'm still fairly new myself, my birds just turned a year old last month.
I dealt with mites last year and this is the thread I from that experience: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/mites.1197698/#post-18953063
There's links in there from some great people on how to identify different types of mites and lice and what to do to treat it.
People are super helpful so if you do find mites, and have other questions/ need more info feel free to create a post.
For my girls that pick, I keep the one they're picking on separated in a small dog cage that's located in the coop so she's visible, but they can't get to her. Then when her feathers grow back I let them back out w the rest of the flock. This happened a month or so ago w/ one of my other eggers. She had pin feathers on her shoulders that the others wouldn't leave alone. She didn't like the cage, but it was only about a week until I could put her back out with the others. I have another one in the cage right now, but they pecked her tail raw so she'll be in there longer. They also have this stuff you can get at TSC called Pick-no-more that you can try. I got it to use on my rooster that my girls refuse to leave alone, but it didn't seem to stop them. That's not saying it might not work for other birds.
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...ick-no-more-cover-up-lotion-4-oz?cm_vc=-10005
I did not use it on my molting girls though b/c they need to be able to preen their feathers.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

I have a chicken like that. No mites or lice. No one else is bothering her. She sleeps in a nest box, so I think from her not roosting she is causing herself issues. She is on a 20% protein diet too with very little treats given. Currently they have a prefab and if I close off the nest boxes, she just sleeps on the slide out poo tray. So, she won't roost on the bars. I think they are too small for her. We are in the middle of building a new coop. Hoping that will help her to get her rear up on the roost and alleviate her issues.

 

[Peoples]

I have a chicken like that. No mites or lice. No one else is bothering her. She sleeps in a nest box, so I think from her not roosting she is causing herself issues. She is on a 20% protein diet too with very little treats given. Currently they have a prefab and if I close off the nest boxes, she just sleeps on the slide out poo tray. So, she won't roost on the bars. I think they are too small for her. We are in the middle of building a new coop. Hoping that will help her to get her rear up on the roost and alleviate her issues.

I wonder if that can be the issue? My plan is to do a better thorough check of under arm feather and around her vent to check for lice or mites, leave out a white cloth at night in the coop to check as another way for mites, pull up a stool and watch, make sure no one is picking on her and then see what I can do about the nesting box. All this is great info. Thank you