Red butt and loss of feathers

[Hempwood]

Hi everyone. I need some help with my chickens. I have several issues going on that I am not able to figure out.
A. 3/4 of my ladies have loss feathers on their butt and vent area with varying degrees of redness. I’ve used PSP to treat for mites in case that’s the problem.
B. I’ve used Vaseline incase it’s scaly mites (i don’t think they have it but I wanted to be cautious).
C. One of them keeps eating the egg she lays soon after laying.

They lay religiously at the same time.
I give them pro and prebiotic in their water once a week
They get apple cider vinegar in their water daily.
I cleaned their area regularly now that it’s spring(although during the winter I wasn’t as diligent)

They have a large run with obstacles. I use Saturday lime ‍ in the coop and run.
I’ve had pumpkins from last fall. I give them this as a treat once a month.

Any suggestions will help.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi everyone. I need some help with my chickens. I have several issues going on that I am not able to figure out.
A. 3/4 of my ladies have loss feathers on their butt and vent area with varying degrees of redness. I’ve used PSP to treat for mites in case that’s the problem.
B. I’ve used Vaseline incase it’s scaly mites (i don’t think they have it but I wanted to be cautious).
C. One of them keeps eating the egg she lays soon after laying.

They lay religiously at the same time.
I give them pro and prebiotic in their water once a week
They get apple cider vinegar in their water daily.
I cleaned their area regularly now that it’s spring(although during the winter I wasn’t as diligent)

They have a large run with obstacles. I use Saturday lime ‍ in the coop and run.
I’ve had pumpkins from last fall. I give them this as a treat once a month.

Any suggestions will help.

Welcome To BYC

Can you post photos of your hens and the feather loss?

 

[Hempwood]

Hi everyone. I need some help with my chickens. I have several issues going on that I am n

Welcome To BYC

Can you post photos of your hens and the feather loss?

ot able to figure out.
A. 3/4 of my ladies have loss feathers on their butt and vent area with varying degrees of redness. I’ve used PSP to treat for mites in case that’s the problem.
B. I’ve used Vaseline incase it’s scaly mites (i don’t think they have it but I wanted to be cautious).
C. One of them keeps eating the egg she lays soon after laying.

They lay religiously at the same time.
I give them pro and prebiotic in their water once a week
They get apple cider vinegar in their water daily.
I cleaned their area regularly now that it’s spring(although during the winter I wasn’t as diligent)

They have a large run with obstacles. I use Saturday lime ‍ in the coop and run.
I’ve had pumpkins from last fall. I give them this as a treat once a month.

Any suggestions will help.

 

[chooki]

How old are your chickens? When did they last molt? Do you happen to have a rooster or aware of any feather pecking problems?

Feathers take time to grow back, adding heaps of protein in their diet will help.

Edit: feather pecking not feather perking

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

That redness is concerning. How big are your coop and run? What kind of feed are they on?

 

[Hempwood]

Hi everyone. I need some help with my chickens. I have several issues going on that I am not able to figure out.
A. 3/4 of my ladies have loss feathers on their butt and vent area with varying degrees of redness. I’ve used PSP to treat for mites in case that’s the problem.
B. I’ve used Vaseline incase it’s scaly mites (i don’t think they have it but I wanted to be cautious).
C. One of them keeps eating the egg she lays soon after laying.

They lay religiously at the same time.
I give them pro and prebiotic in their water once a week
They get apple cider vinegar in their water daily.
I cleaned their area regularly now that it’s spring(although during the winter I wasn’t as diligent)

They have a large run with obstacles. I use Saturday lime ‍ in the coop and run.
I’ve had pumpkins from last fall. I give them this as a treat once a month.

Any suggestions will help.

How old are your chickens? When did they last molt? Do you happen to have a rooster or aware of any feather perking problems?

Feathers take time to grow back, adding heaps of protein in their diet will help.

They are 26 months old. This has been happening since last 10/2024. It started with one chicken then all 4. The first one that lost her butt feathers grew back sometime in January.
No roosters.
re protein: sounds good. I read here somewhere you can give them cat food. So I will be purchasing some organic cat food to add to their diet.

 

[Hempwood]

That redness is concerning. How big are your coop and run? What kind of feed are they on?

The redness looks like it is improving today. I do notice they are picking at each other again. So I may have to do another PSP treatment. The coop I have said it fits 6-8 chickens. The run is 8x8 with dirt floor. I feed them Dumor feed, supplement with Grubbly farms meal worms.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

The redness looks like it is improving today. I do notice they are picking at each other again. So I may have to do another PSP treatment. The coop I have said it fits 6-8 chickens. The run is 8x8 with dirt floor. I feed them Dumor feed, supplement with Grubbly farms meal worms.

What % protein is the food? Is it layer or all flock? If it’s layer i would skip the cat food and switch to a higher protein feed and provide oyster shell free-choice on the side. Cat food might be fine as a treat but it sounds like you have an ongoing problem that needs a long-term solution instead of a quick fix.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

C. One of them keeps eating the egg she lays soon after laying.

I give them pro and prebiotic in their water once a week
They get apple cider vinegar in their water daily.

re protein: sounds good. I read here somewhere you can give them cat food. So I will be purchasing some organic cat food to add to their diet.

The run is 8x8 with dirt floor. I feed them Dumor feed, supplement with Grubbly farms meal worms.

The coop I have said it fits 6-8 chickens

The feather loss is from picking and/or mounting. Yes, some hens will mount another out of dominance.

Switch to a higher protein poultry feed like an All Flock/Flock raiser feed instead of giving cat food.
Provide oyster shell free choice along with grit (crushed granite).

Provide fresh plain water to drink.

Limit the meal worms.

You have one hen that lays and egg and eats it - what is the shell quality like of the eggs she lays?


The redness of the skin is due to picking/plucking and probably a bit of sunburn too. Feathers that are broken and damaged or where the follicles are still intact in the skin will not be replaced until they go through a molt, so the girls may be bare until fall depending on age.

Photos of your coop? You mention it says will fit 6-8hens, is it a prefab coop? Can you give us the dimensions? Unfortunately a lot of coops have limited space and the birds will pick at one another while roosting.

You can put saddles on the girls to help protect their backs and if you have feather pickers, you can use pinless peepers to help deter picking, but none of these things will make up for inadequate space and/or nutritional deficiencies.

 

[chooki]

One of my birds had similar symptom, although probably for a different cause. She had a mite problem and ended with a semi bald abdomen & butt area for about a few months. I treated her with poultry dust twice.

About a month ago, she has started molting. This was her 3 weeks ago:

I have boosted her feed protein content by adding milk powder to her feed, sometimes skim, sometimes full cream. On top of that, I am giving my chickens prawn heads, meat scrap and fish every day or every second day.

This is her, picture taken today:

Also my chickens are free ranging, from my experience, free ranging eliminates a lot of the pecking problems. The perpetrators may still try to peck, but it gives the potential victims plenty of space for them to distant themselves and great chance to run away.