Tufty butts

[chazen328]

I was wandering if you could help. Our chickens went into a molt last fall and its almost like they didn't come out of it. Quite a few hens are missing feathers on their shoulders and back which I understand is from the roosters. But we have several hens/roosters that are missing neck feathers, tail feathers, and the fluffy feathers on their behinds. Also about half of our hens don't lay anymore. Someone recently suggested that they are not getting enough protein and I was wondering if that is true? And what to do about it? I did some research online and found suggestions of cat food and black sunflower seeds? Will that work and make them pretty again? Please HELP!

 

[sourland]

Catfood and sunflower seeds may help. How much room do they have, and how many roosters and hens do you have. Over breeding may be part of your problem plus you may have some feather pluckers/eaters which may be either dietary in nature or caused by boredom.

 

[kidcody]

from washington state glad you joined us!
feather quality can be from a lot of different things. I would first give them all a good dusting with Sevin dusting powder found in your garden center. If the feathers are missing from the rooster who continues to mate with his favorites then I would suggest to put saddles on them. Also diet is always apart of good feather growth. Dry cat food is a great protein along with can cat food. I also like to give them wild bird seed along with there regular diet and make sure they get plenty of greens (green grass, Alfalfa leaves, green grapes) pretty much anything you eat chickens will eat. I hope this helps your girls get back to having there beautiful feathers.

 

[Kevin565]

I agree with the above posters

 

[chazen328]

40 hens, 2 roosters.
pen is 1152 sq ft, shed is 288 sq ft, total 1440 sq ft.

 

[RyeRanch]

I would guess it is more diet related. It sounds like you have plenty of space. Up the protein and hopefully that gets their feathers back in shape.

Good luck!

 

[weimarmama]

&

from Alabama. Glad you joined us.

 

[sumi]

Hello and welcome to BYC

Sorry I can't offer advice, I've never dealt with this kind of situation before. Good luck!

 

[brahmakid11]

 

[1muttsfan]

Hi and welcome to BYC from northern Michigan

I am going to disagree with the above posters and say that if you have your birds on a good quality layer ration, they should not need any additional protein. If you oversupplement your birds with other foods, you actually will unbalance their diets and cause decreased laying and feather production. What are you feeding them now? How old are your birds?

Check the birds carefully for parasites, especially around the vent and underside. If they have parasites, treat them.

Consider taking a stool sample to a vet clinic to have it checked for parasites.

And I do agree that too many roos per hen will lead to frazzled-looking girls.