rooster losing feathers

[janalice]

Hello and thank goodness for this forum. I have a problem with all my roosters..different kinds, ages and sizes. They are all down to about 1 tail feather a piece..lol I looked all over the yard for them, (my girlfriend crafts with them), and there are none. Also, Mr. Turkey Lurkey is losing his too. These are all healthy free range chickens and 2 turkeys. We also have a goat (he is cabled and the chickens love him), 5 dogs, neo mastiffs, english mastiff, dobe and rott..they guard the birds and we live on a lake with a 4 acre woods. Is there a disease that could cross the species barrier and affect them or insects that they haven't eaten? They have no mites, lice, or anything else I can see except one hen has little white spots like granules all over her comb. It doesn't seem to bother her..help plz..what's taking my birds feathers and putting white stuff on the hen? thank you, J

 

[maybejoey]

The chickens are proabaly just doing what mine do. Eat there own and each others feathers.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Do a search for fowl pox and look at some pictures others have posted to see if that is what is on her comb, if you will. (Also there is a condition called favus.)

It is that time of year for molting, so if your roosters are a year old or more, they might just be molting. However, feather picking and eating does occur, so I cannot rule that out. If you can identify it as feather eating, your flock might desire more protein. Also there are preparations such as black salve and pick no more lotion that you can apply to the area to make it taste bad.

 

[janalice]

thank you for the quick help. I will be watching them more closely. Seems the white spots are favur so we can take care of that. This site is such a help...thanks to all of you patient enough to answer my sometimes dumb questions. J


Men have forgotten this truth, but you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote:
If you have diagnosed it as favus, there was a post or two about using some kind of antifungal spray...hmmmm- I forget. If you BYC search for it you might find it. It was on a thread fairly recently.

 

[janalice]

Thanks..I will and did..thanks to all of you chicken lovers. Does anyone raise crevecours? I want a rooster so bad.


I ordered 10 last spring and ended up with all hens..lol if any of you raise them, please let me buy, beg or whine a male chick from your next hatching

thanks so much.J

Men have forgotten this truth, but you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry