Sammster
Free Ranging
I have 8 RIR hens. Two of them are self-plucking. They will be 2 years old in a couple weeks. I know one is self-plucking for sure - because I saw her doing it on the coop camera. I assume the other is self-plucking, as well. I haven't noticed excessive arguing or bullying. Maybe the occasional, short-lived squabble.
They went through a molt in late winter, and these 2 girls never let their feathers fully grow back. One has a bare neck. The other has a partially bare neck, along with a fully bare lower belly and very red bottom. I will try to get good pictures, tomorrow.
I often see feathers in the coop when I do the daily cleaning. Sometimes in the nesting boxes, sometimes just on the floor. I checked for lice and mites, and don't see any. They are very difficult to check, because they dislike handling. But, I towel-wrapped them and checked as well as I could, using a head lamp. They readily go to the coop at night. They are not avoiding it.
The hen with the bare bottom gets frequent baths because her bottom is regularly poopy. Ive had to trim her bottom feathers to keep her clean - but that's not why her bottom is bare. Sometimes I apply Peri-Guard after her bath, to soothe her bottom. She's had messy bottom issues her whole life. She also happened to be my only chick to have had pasty-butt. She has, for a long time, had loose stools. Not always, but more often than not, recently. I have ProBios, that I offer, frequently. I'm currently trying ACV in one waterer and plain water in another.
They eat Kalmbach non-GMO pellets. They have oyster shell and grit in separate dishes. I have been sprinkling some oyster shell into their food recently, because one of my girls laid a soft-shelled egg, and I didn't know which one. Could this be a problem? Too much calcium? They get black soldier fly larva as treats. On occasion, they will get cabbage or lettuce. I've held off on fruits because of the loose stools.
We're having a comfortable summer, so far. Not overly hot. Their coop and their run have fans to keep them cool - if it gets too warm. They are acting fine. No stress or discomfort that I can tell. Today I applied Mentholatum to their bare spots to see if I can discourage plucking, after reading through some of the posts on plucking on this site. But I'm concerned it might irritate their already tender skin. Tomorrow, I will give the red-bottomed girl a bath. I wonder if adding some baking soda might soothe her skin? Would Epsom salts be better? Seems like salt might sting tender skin.
They are not free-ranged because of hawks and a recent fox sighting. I wish they didn't have to be confined to their run, but I did build them a chunnel, so they can get out a little. They do enjoy that. Perhaps I could move things around in their run, so it seems new and interesting. Maybe they are bored.
So, I'm wondering what I might do for them that I've not yet tried. My other 6 girls don't appear to be losing feathers. I wouldn't be so concerned, except that their skin looks so tender. Especially on my bare-bottomed girl. Ouch
They went through a molt in late winter, and these 2 girls never let their feathers fully grow back. One has a bare neck. The other has a partially bare neck, along with a fully bare lower belly and very red bottom. I will try to get good pictures, tomorrow.
I often see feathers in the coop when I do the daily cleaning. Sometimes in the nesting boxes, sometimes just on the floor. I checked for lice and mites, and don't see any. They are very difficult to check, because they dislike handling. But, I towel-wrapped them and checked as well as I could, using a head lamp. They readily go to the coop at night. They are not avoiding it.
The hen with the bare bottom gets frequent baths because her bottom is regularly poopy. Ive had to trim her bottom feathers to keep her clean - but that's not why her bottom is bare. Sometimes I apply Peri-Guard after her bath, to soothe her bottom. She's had messy bottom issues her whole life. She also happened to be my only chick to have had pasty-butt. She has, for a long time, had loose stools. Not always, but more often than not, recently. I have ProBios, that I offer, frequently. I'm currently trying ACV in one waterer and plain water in another.
They eat Kalmbach non-GMO pellets. They have oyster shell and grit in separate dishes. I have been sprinkling some oyster shell into their food recently, because one of my girls laid a soft-shelled egg, and I didn't know which one. Could this be a problem? Too much calcium? They get black soldier fly larva as treats. On occasion, they will get cabbage or lettuce. I've held off on fruits because of the loose stools.
We're having a comfortable summer, so far. Not overly hot. Their coop and their run have fans to keep them cool - if it gets too warm. They are acting fine. No stress or discomfort that I can tell. Today I applied Mentholatum to their bare spots to see if I can discourage plucking, after reading through some of the posts on plucking on this site. But I'm concerned it might irritate their already tender skin. Tomorrow, I will give the red-bottomed girl a bath. I wonder if adding some baking soda might soothe her skin? Would Epsom salts be better? Seems like salt might sting tender skin.
They are not free-ranged because of hawks and a recent fox sighting. I wish they didn't have to be confined to their run, but I did build them a chunnel, so they can get out a little. They do enjoy that. Perhaps I could move things around in their run, so it seems new and interesting. Maybe they are bored.
So, I'm wondering what I might do for them that I've not yet tried. My other 6 girls don't appear to be losing feathers. I wouldn't be so concerned, except that their skin looks so tender. Especially on my bare-bottomed girl. Ouch
