Summer molt or something else?

[deacons]

Some of you may have seen a thread I posted a couple of weeks ago here, about my 2-2.5 year old Barred Rock hen who has developed a bald spot on her chest. At first I thought this was a sign of broodiness, but you all were very helpful and let me know there's no reason to expect breast feather plucking like this. Since that time, I've continued to see her losing feathers from that area- you can clearly see a red spot underneath the missing feathers. Here is a picture from last night:



I've completely cleaned out the coop and roost area, scrubbed it down and sprayed with "Poultry Protector." I've inspected all the girls for signs of lice or mites, and just don't see any signs. I've also checked the roost for mites at night, but don't see any.

Now I'm back to wondering if this is just an oddly timed molt? I mentioned in my other thread that I've had this hen since January 2013, and never seen her molt. I am finding Barred Rock feathers scattered throughout my coop and run, and she's the only Barred Rock, so they're coming from her. She's solidly #2 in the pecking order, and the sidekick to my top girl, so it seems unlikely to me that she's getting bullied by any others (and that seems like a weird spot for others to pick out feathers). As far as I can tell, she's not bothered by it, at least not when I see her.

So, what do you think? Molt? Something else? What would you do?

 

[CMV]

Did you do 2 rounds of cleaning and treatment 10 days apart? That's the only thing I would do differently, if you haven't already done that. Mites are nearly impossible to see, so I often just act like they have mites and see what happens after treatment.

As far as the oddly timed molt hypothesis- I would believe it. I had an older bird that basically made me throw out the book on raising birds. She was a GLW, who laid hardly any eggs in her life, was always broody and molted when she pleased. And when she molted, she would blow all her feathers overnight. So, I would lock the birds in one night, and go out the next morning to let them out and have a completely bald chicken...in June. Scared the heck out of me the first time she did it.

 

[deacons]

CMV, I've only done one "deep clean" but can definitely do another this weekend. It will be a bit more than 10 days after the first time, so if I have to do a 3rd after this, that's fine.

I've only had chickens for a couple of years, and in that time, have never seen a chicken go through a molt. If this hen is molting, would the pattern of feather loss in the picture I posted make sense? She definitely didn't drop all her feathers- the rest of her body looks normal, it's just her whole chest area that seems to be thinning out. I just want to try to understand what I'm dealing with here so I can help her if needed.

 

[CMV]

http://backyardfarming.blogspot.com/2009/10/backyard-chickens-molting.html

 

[abserbean]

Chickens shouldn't be red when they molt though, and her skin clearly looks red. I have some feather pickers, and they do it on the roost. Usually you get a bald, red butt from that b/'c the hens are sitting face to butt, but if they are facing the same way on the roost you could see a red/bald chest. And usually mites or parasites will be in the vent area, not the chest. Also, a molt should be more of an all over thing, and her feathers look full and nice on the rest of her. I would suspect you have a feather picker, and it's happening at night on the roost. If so, it is hard to break. Find out who she is sleeping beside, and maybe isolate that bird at night time to try and break the habit. I also put blue kote on the red area to help discourage picking and to help the skin heal. Good luck! I haven't had much success with breaking this habit, started in my girls second year.

 

[deacons]

Chickens shouldn't be red when they molt though, and her skin clearly looks red. I have some feather pickers, and they do it on the roost. Usually you get a bald, red butt from that b/'c the hens are sitting face to butt, but if they are facing the same way on the roost you could see a red/bald chest. And usually mites or parasites will be in the vent area, not the chest. Also, a molt should be more of an all over thing, and her feathers look full and nice on the rest of her. I would suspect you have a feather picker, and it's happening at night on the roost. If so, it is hard to break. Find out who she is sleeping beside, and maybe isolate that bird at night time to try and break the habit. I also put blue kote on the red area to help discourage picking and to help the skin heal. Good luck! I haven't had much success with breaking this habit, started in my girls second year.

Hmmm....this is very interesting. My girls are very predictable in their roosting order, and this hen is always next to the "boss" hen on the roost, both of them facing front- the other 6 sleep on the opposite end, away from these two. If there is feather picking, it would have to be that the head hen is doing it. These two have been together their entire lives though, and there was a period of about 6 months when they were the only two I had (I lost 2 of the original 4 hens I had, and there was a break between that and when I got 6 chicks last spring). They are "joint at the hip" and always together, though the head hen is definitely much bossier and more aggressive than this Barred Rock.

Is this feather picking something that would have just started suddenly even though these two have been "buddies" their entire lives?

Nothing else has changed about their living conditions, no new birds have been added since the 6 now-grown-up chicks I got last spring.

I do have some blue kote and can try to see if that makes any difference.

 

[abserbean]

My original hens lived together with no problems, and then about two months ago I noticed two of my hens had a bald, red butt. I treated for mites/lices, cleaned out the coop, upped their protein to help with feather picking. Nothing has really helped. Some things I have read suggest that it starts out of boredom. For the last four months, my hens were free ranging less b/c my mom was staying with us, and she is scared of them. They have a pretty large run, appro 30 x 24 or so, but I think they were missing the free ranging time. I built them an outside perch, I've been giving them a flock block once a week, and now that my mom has left they are ranging more again. Hopefully this helps, their poor, red butts look pitiful! I think the feather picking can start suddenly, and it isn't necessarily a sign of aggression, although it doesn't usually happen to the top bird. My bald butted ones are second and third out of five, and the two lowest show no signs. I do think it is my top hen doing the pecking, but I haven't caught her yet.

 

[deacons]

My original hens lived together with no problems, and then about two months ago I noticed two of my hens had a bald, red butt. I treated for mites/lices, cleaned out the coop, upped their protein to help with feather picking. Nothing has really helped. Some things I have read suggest that it starts out of boredom. For the last four months, my hens were free ranging less b/c my mom was staying with us, and she is scared of them. They have a pretty large run, appro 30 x 24 or so, but I think they were missing the free ranging time. I built them an outside perch, I've been giving them a flock block once a week, and now that my mom has left they are ranging more again. Hopefully this helps, their poor, red butts look pitiful! I think the feather picking can start suddenly, and it isn't necessarily a sign of aggression, although it doesn't usually happen to the top bird. My bald butted ones are second and third out of five, and the two lowest show no signs. I do think it is my top hen doing the pecking, but I haven't caught her yet.

Helpful, thanks for sharing your experience. It's a little discouraging to think that one could "turn" on the other after so much time as a pair, but it's certainly something to consider. I've been traveling for work more than usual lately, so I would say they have probably gotten less free ranging time that they're used to, but they do have a good sized run when they're stuck. But I will think about more ways to provide stimulation.