- Jul 24, 2013
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I'm in need of some suggestions from fellow poultry raisers. This is what is happening:
I have a beautiful White Wyandotte bantam hen who did great at shows last year. This past winter, she was bred and produced several chicks. Her back feathers got a little messed up from the breeding, but once I removed her from the cock, her appearance improved greatly. Soon, it was hardly noticeable that she had been mated so much.
In early March, I moved some young birds into the coop. The Wyandotte hen lives in a pen adjacent to the young birds, along with my other older hens. The pens are separated by chicken wire. Soon after moving the young birds into the coop, I noticed that the Wyandotte hen's tail feathers were getting a little scraggly, as if another bird was ripping at them. Since the hen is rather dominant, and I never see any older birds picking at her, I assumed that the young birds were plucking at her through the wire at night (she slept on top of a platform, next to the young bird's roost separated by wire.) So, I put up a solid barrier between the young birds and her sleeping area. However, the deterioration of her feathers continued in a strange way. The secondary feathers on her left wing gradually got stripped of the web, leaving only shafts.
Since the hen hadn't molted yet (at over a year of age), I didn't pay a whole lot of attention, assuming that she would molt soon and grow in whole feathers. I thought that the feather problem was mostly because her feathers were old and needed to be replaced. At this point, I didn't see any mites on her or the other birds. After a month or so, the Wyandotte hen seemed to be gradually beginning to molt, with a few growing feathers being noticed on her neck and wings. That was in late April. About a month later, she has made a little progress with her very slow molt, and the feather stripping problem has spread a little more. Strangely, though, only the left side of her body (mostly the wing) is mainly affected.
Other than the Wyandotte bantam hen, the other hens were looking fine. I introduced some young pullets and one young, still not actively breeding cockerel into the older hen compartment like I do every year. The young birds disrupted the older hens' roosting spots a little, but after a week or so of minor scuffles, they don't appear to be actively harassing any of the older birds. All of the young pullets look great, with shiny new feathers growing in.
I also had a Dutch bantam hen, about the same age as the affected Wyandotte. She, fortunately (because I hoped to show her with new feathers later in the year) began molting quickly in April. I checked her wings about two weeks ago, and they were looking great. Then, yesterday, I looked at her wings again. Unfortunately, I noticed that several secondary feathers were beginning to show the same stripping down to the shaft problem as the Wyandotte hen. Again, it was only the left side. All of her other non-wing feathers look fine, but now I have two hens with a strange, destructive feather problem.
I still see no mites on any of the birds. I also have seen no birds actively attacking/picking at each other. Their coop was cleaned out completely about three weeks ago (I generally only clean twice a year, since I use rather deep litter and have few chickens). The affected birds have been eating layer feed and/or gamebird starter/grower feed, since their flock section consists of young birds, too. No male birds have been affected, including two cocks in cages, four cockerels in the adjacent coop compartment (separated by chicken wire), a White Wyandotte cock in another adjacent compartment, and a young cockerel that runs with the hens. No young pullets have been affected either (Wyandotte and Dutch). The affected birds are two different breeds, with different parents, though they are about the same age. The oldest birds in the coop (a Wyandotte hen and cock) are unharmed, as well.
Photos will be coming soon. I'm going to determine tonight where the birds roost, since perhaps they're sleeping in a place where other birds can peck at them easily. I suppose some sort of external parasite that doesn't live on the birds (red mites, for example) is a possibility, but the fact that only two birds are affected on only one side of their body makes that unlikely. I'm leaning more toward pecking by other birds, but I need to find out who (knowing where they roost should help). I've never dealt with anything like this before.
Sorry for the long post.
I have a beautiful White Wyandotte bantam hen who did great at shows last year. This past winter, she was bred and produced several chicks. Her back feathers got a little messed up from the breeding, but once I removed her from the cock, her appearance improved greatly. Soon, it was hardly noticeable that she had been mated so much.
In early March, I moved some young birds into the coop. The Wyandotte hen lives in a pen adjacent to the young birds, along with my other older hens. The pens are separated by chicken wire. Soon after moving the young birds into the coop, I noticed that the Wyandotte hen's tail feathers were getting a little scraggly, as if another bird was ripping at them. Since the hen is rather dominant, and I never see any older birds picking at her, I assumed that the young birds were plucking at her through the wire at night (she slept on top of a platform, next to the young bird's roost separated by wire.) So, I put up a solid barrier between the young birds and her sleeping area. However, the deterioration of her feathers continued in a strange way. The secondary feathers on her left wing gradually got stripped of the web, leaving only shafts.
Since the hen hadn't molted yet (at over a year of age), I didn't pay a whole lot of attention, assuming that she would molt soon and grow in whole feathers. I thought that the feather problem was mostly because her feathers were old and needed to be replaced. At this point, I didn't see any mites on her or the other birds. After a month or so, the Wyandotte hen seemed to be gradually beginning to molt, with a few growing feathers being noticed on her neck and wings. That was in late April. About a month later, she has made a little progress with her very slow molt, and the feather stripping problem has spread a little more. Strangely, though, only the left side of her body (mostly the wing) is mainly affected.
Other than the Wyandotte bantam hen, the other hens were looking fine. I introduced some young pullets and one young, still not actively breeding cockerel into the older hen compartment like I do every year. The young birds disrupted the older hens' roosting spots a little, but after a week or so of minor scuffles, they don't appear to be actively harassing any of the older birds. All of the young pullets look great, with shiny new feathers growing in.
I also had a Dutch bantam hen, about the same age as the affected Wyandotte. She, fortunately (because I hoped to show her with new feathers later in the year) began molting quickly in April. I checked her wings about two weeks ago, and they were looking great. Then, yesterday, I looked at her wings again. Unfortunately, I noticed that several secondary feathers were beginning to show the same stripping down to the shaft problem as the Wyandotte hen. Again, it was only the left side. All of her other non-wing feathers look fine, but now I have two hens with a strange, destructive feather problem.
I still see no mites on any of the birds. I also have seen no birds actively attacking/picking at each other. Their coop was cleaned out completely about three weeks ago (I generally only clean twice a year, since I use rather deep litter and have few chickens). The affected birds have been eating layer feed and/or gamebird starter/grower feed, since their flock section consists of young birds, too. No male birds have been affected, including two cocks in cages, four cockerels in the adjacent coop compartment (separated by chicken wire), a White Wyandotte cock in another adjacent compartment, and a young cockerel that runs with the hens. No young pullets have been affected either (Wyandotte and Dutch). The affected birds are two different breeds, with different parents, though they are about the same age. The oldest birds in the coop (a Wyandotte hen and cock) are unharmed, as well.
Photos will be coming soon. I'm going to determine tonight where the birds roost, since perhaps they're sleeping in a place where other birds can peck at them easily. I suppose some sort of external parasite that doesn't live on the birds (red mites, for example) is a possibility, but the fact that only two birds are affected on only one side of their body makes that unlikely. I'm leaning more toward pecking by other birds, but I need to find out who (knowing where they roost should help). I've never dealt with anything like this before.
Sorry for the long post.
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