Rooster Losing Feathers

[CaptivatingCarina]

Hi, this is my first post to the forum, but I have been utilizing all of the wonderful information here for months! lol

I have 12 hens (a few are pullets still) and one Buckeye roo. The roo is about a year old or maybe a little younger. The hens are all under a year. The roo seems to have one favored hen and she is barebacked (going to look into ordering a saddle for her). They are in a coop at night, and free-range in a large yard from about 7am until 8pm. We live in Tucson, AZ and it has been very hot, but the chicken yard has trees and an awning for shade and they have plenty of water available.

Anyway, this morning I noticed my roo is losing feathers on his back at the base of his tail. It looks very similar to the barebacked hen. I couldn't find any other posts on this type of feather loss. I don't see any missing feathers around his bum, chest or neck, just this area on his back.

I will be checking for mites tonight and putting down DTE just as a precaution (or to hopefully take care of the mites should I find any). Is there anything else I need to be doing maintenance wise in my coop?

Thanks so much for any input and thoughts.

 

[dawg53]

You need to pick your rooster up and visually inspect him for lice/mites around the affected area and use sevin dust on him if you see any. Another thing could be feather picking. Have you seen any of the others picking the feathers off him? If so, it could be a lack of proper protein in their feed. They should be fed at least 16% layer feed, scratch and treats given sparingly. If it's feather picking, purchase gamebird feed which is about 22% protein and give that to them...that will stop feather picking and help in feather regrowth. Overcrowding in their coop can cause feather picking as well, expansion might be necessary to prevent it. Finally, your rooster could be starting a mini molt. This happens with chickens at different times during the year. Sometimes they lose all their feathers and look ragged, others might only lose feathers from one part of the body or just lose tail feathers, it just depends. Again, increasing protein in the diet will help in feather regrowth.

 

[CaptivatingCarina]

Thanks so much for the info. I'll look into it all.

They're currently on a 16% layer pellet. They also get fruits, veggies and some meat scraps a couple of times a week.

So far, all of the hens look fine. But, I'll check them out for mites.

Thanks again!!