Redstar loosing feathers

[stkf]

Hello,
we are totally new to the chickens community, got 4 Redstars about a year ago,
They are doing fine, treated as pets, fed Purina organic food for layers, also get daily treats in the form of grapes, non-fat plain yogurt etc
They do have enough space in the coop and in the runner. Over the weekends we also allow them to just walk around, so they are partially free range.
The problem is with one of them. She lost some of her feathers in the front several months ago, but lately she lost more and it's happening on her neck as well. Also the naked skin looks red and irritated. We were trying to see if there are some creatures/mites biting her - nothing that we can see. Other chicken has some feathers loss under her wings, and that happened several months ago. They behave normal and continue to lay eggs. But there is definitely some problem. Can somebody please help?

 

[rebrascora]

I would say probably depluming mites which are microscopic. If you watch her, does she preen and or dust bath excessively? I believe you need to treat systemically for depluming mites and that Ivermectin is effective but you would need to do research because I have not needed to treat for this myself and Ivermectin is not approved for use in poultry, but people do use it as a wormer. You would need to consider a withdrawal period for eggs after treating and probably give the coop a good spray down with permethrin.

 

[dawg53]

Have you noticed an excess of feathers in the coop or pen? If not, you might have a feather picker and the feathers are being eaten. If that's the case, they need extra protein in their diet for a while.

 

[stkf]

thank you both so much! Feathers are there inside the coop, no doubt about that! We do give them some extra protein just so they can restore some, but it worsens. And they all love their dust baths, unfortunately they have them only during weekends. What's weird - one chicken has it bad, she is the one on the picture. And she is the most adventurous one. Another one has some feathers loss under her wings, but her skin there looks normal. The other two are fine. We've ordered Ivermectin online already but haven't started. Anybody has any idea about the dosage? thanks again

 

[stkf]

Hi again,
tried everything recommended on several threads, permethrin spray, ivermectin drops to the skin (all done by a very small calculated dosages). And we use diatomaceous earth routinely, seven dust sometimes. No noticeable difference. The chicken is quite happy except for the moments when she is being treated, and keeps laying. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Attaching here the picture of our chickens pharmacy.ks

thanks in advance!

 

[rebrascora]

Many of the feathers appear to be broken which means that they will not be replaced until she moults in the autumn. Are you still seeing more feathers in the coop since they were treated or is it just that the girls don't look any better. I would imagine that you should have killed any parasites with that combination of treatments, so hopefully it is just a case of waiting for their moult to see the physical improvement. Are they preening and dust bathing a lot still?

 

[dawg53]

No rooster with your hens? If not, that's good.
This might also be a feed issue. I tried Purina feed once and it was the last due to it being mostly powder. I have since always used Nutrena Country layer feed crumbles without any problems for many many years. Perhaps switching to another brand of feed might be the answer.

 

[stkf]

Many of the feathers appear to be broken which means that they will not be replaced until she moults in the autumn. Are you still seeing more feathers in the coop since they were treated or is it just that the girls don't look any better. I would imagine that you should have killed any parasites with that combination of treatments, so hopefully it is just a case of waiting for their moult to see the physical improvement. Are they preening and dust bathing a lot still?

thank you, We understand the feathers won't grow overnight, our concern is - her skin is red-ish and seem irritated, but she doesn't respond to the touch, so looks like it doesn't bother her. As far as dust bathing - the don't have much chances during a week, we work, they do it mostly on the weekends. But it doesn't seem their bathing habits changed.

 

[stkf]

No rooster with your hens? If not, that's good.
This might also be a feed issue. I tried Purina feed once and it was the last due to it being mostly powder. I have since always used Nutrena Country layer feed crumbles without any problems for many many years. Perhaps switching to another brand of feed might be the answer.

thank you, No rooster, but we do feed them Purina. They do like it. It's organic feed for layers. And it's been consistent, I mean they are on it since we brought them in a year ago, they were just about to start laying. The problem started 2-3 months ago.