Sam. Favs. missing feathers

[chickiedoodle]

I am new to the chicken thing and wonder about two of my chickens. They are missing a bunch of feathers on their rump. There is a bare patch about the size of a fist. First I freaked out and thought they were being picked, but now I am not sure. Their skin is intact, no blood spots, no tears, just no feathers. They both seem a bit broody--they are usually on eggs and peck at me when I take the eggs away--so now I wonder, are they pulling out their own feathers to make nests? None of the other birds look like this, should I worry?

 

[steffpeck]

Do you have a rooster in with them?

 

[chickiedoodle]

Yes one regular size of unknown breed and one japanese white--and 35 girls in all

 

[Chicken Woman]

The only hen that has gone broody in my flock so far lost all her tummy feathers but not her butt feathers.
I would watch to see if they are being picked on as the butt area is a common place for others to peck at them.

If they are being pecked they may need some added protein in there diet like canned cat food,yogurt etc . One common reason for pecking feathers is defficient protien and feathers are moslty protein so they go for them.

You may also just have a bully that you can pick out of the flock. If so seperate that bird to a cage or Dog kennel for about a week and when they return to the flock they will no longer be at the top of the pecking order.

Hope these ideas are helpful. Good luck.

 

[HorseFeathers]

That is feather picking. Either other hens are doing it as a dominance thing or it's from the roos doing their thing.

 

[chickiedoodle]

Well I will watch and see if I can find a bully. It did start when they were confined to their yard all the time--we laid new sod and didn't want them at it before it grew roots. I let them out this afternoon and put my kids on "chicken duty" to keep them off the lawn, I also put cat food in for them--so I guess we will see. THanks