Rescuing Lost Chicken with Many Missing Feathers

[Porch Chickens]

Hi, A couple of days ago a neighbor brought this hen to me thinking it might be one of mine. It's not mine. Hard to tell in this photo, but it's completely bald on the back and tops of it's wings (shoulders?) That shoulder area is very red, but skin is intact. I think it may be sunburned, actually. It looks like it may have been badly picked on by other chickens or a rooster? I thought it might be an old beat up, non-laying chicken that's been abandoned, so imagine my surprise when it layed the most beautiful blue green egg for me! I have other Easter Eggers, and this new girl lays a super-pretty shiny egg like one of my others does. So, if we can get her introduced successfully to the others we will keep her. assuming nobody claims her of course. She's already been posted as "found" by two other people on our neighborhood website (they were not equipped to care for chickens) and so far nobody has come forward to claim her, so I won't try too hard to find her owner if she's laying such pretty eggs.; )
I'm assuming her feathers won't come back until after she molt's again, right?
I worry it's going to make it harder to introduce her to the flock looking so picked on. She's a mess, looks-wise, but seems healthy and has no mites. I have her in my old smaller chicken coop in my run area, so the others can come out and see her during the day while they forage around in the bushes (I have 8 other birds-- 3 of them only 3 months old), but they are separated by chicken wire. Hoping after a while they willl forget she wasn't just always there. Any tips are appreciated!

 

[Eggcessive]

That could be rooster damage, and it will grow back in after she molts. You can always use a hen saddle/apron to cover the bare spots. BluKote can also hide the red with the blue coloring of gentian violet, but needs to be applied every 3 days. Be sure to keep her in quarantine for at least 30 days to make sure that she shows no signs of illness. Check her for lice and mites, and worming her would be a good thing to do. Valbazen or SafeGuard are both good ones.

 

[HelloChickies]

Poor thing! Maybe she got snatched up by a predator somewhere, but got away?
Anyhow, I'm glad you're giving her a nice home!

 

[FalconsNest]

Lucky you! It may take her until after a molt to grow back her feathers, but I
had a Buff Orpington who started growing them back a week after a fox attack. It's a good sign she's laying anyhow, a high chance she'll make it
Anyone ever heard of a red hen who lays blue-green eggs?? a mix most likely.

 

[Porch Chickens]

Yes she appears to be a mix, Falconnest. Looks like some kind of Easter Egger and RIR.
She appears to have scaly leg mites. This is our first experience with that type of mite. She's in a separate coop from the other birds, but they have been pecking close around that coop in the daytime and can see her through the hardware cloth. I dusted her with fowl and garden dust and did the treatment on her legs with washing them in warm soapy water, scrubbing really well with a tooth brush up under the scales and then brushing her legs with baby oil with tea tree and peppermint oil added to it (thank goodness a friend who visited recently bought me a gift of an essential oils set!).
I also dusted her small coop really well and changed the litter in the nesting box and added DE. No other shavings in coop except in nesting box- just a sandy dirt floor and I put plenty of dust all over it. I also put a good perimeter of garden dust around the coop to hopefully discourage any mites from surviving a crawl out to get on my other birds.

 

[FalconsNest]

Yes that will keep them away pretty well. Hope the "mystery hen" survives
Does she have a name yet?

 

[Porch Chickens]

Yes FalconNest, she has a name now!
Just last week I was thinking, "hmm, I guess we might as well name her" and "Margaret" popped unbidden into my head for some reason, so now she's Margaret-- Maggie for short.: )