urgent: what is wrong with my chicken? (not too graphic pics)

[Nutcase]

Please post your thoughts in this thread as soon as possible!!

This is Charity:




Right now Charity's having some problems with the feathers on her wings. The vanes are missing from the shafts and you can see sort of bare pink skin on her wings. Are you able to suggest anything - including the cause?







Any thoughts on this? A parasite, maybe? I thought it could be the molt but this has been going on for almost ten months now. She is subject to bullying, including pecking, but it's not constant and severe enough to cause that much damage.
The other three chickens' feathers are perfectly healthy. I just don't get it. She's been laying eggs all this time and doesn't appear to be in any pain but I'd like to know what's going on.

 

[Judy]

I would check her for lice / mites, which are very common. However, it looks like pecking / feather picking to me.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ig140

 

[willowbranchfarm]

Agree looks like feather picking.

 

[LOOHOO60]

I have a few hens that look like this one does.. Thanks for the post.
.

 

[Sunflower]

I have a rooster with a bad wing that looks like this. I ended up taking him to the vet and vet said he had an infection and gave him an injectable antibiotic and then I treated it at home with a $1.00 tube of cortisone cream w/ anti itch and also tried a antibiotic cream or ointment at different times. It took a few months but his feathers grew back. Now they're falling out again, so I started up the creams again. I'm not 100% sure which one worked the best (either cortisone or antibiotic) but the $ store brand is very cheap to experiment with so I'm seeing which one gets the best results. You can see the skin start to turn pink rather than red pretty quickly. Good luck!

 

[Nutcase]

I am pretty sure it isn't lice or mites because the other chickens are fine. Her feathers aren't actually falling off, the vanes just aren't there.

 

[Nutcase]

Does anyone have any other ideas? I'd really like to clear up this issue.

 

[kamra]

It looks like the other chickens are picking on her, try putting some hemmeroid ointment on her wings it will help the redness and keep them from pecking her feathers. you can also give her black sunflower seeds to help her grow the feathers back faster. I had gotten some hens that were missing a lot of feather because the person i got them from had a lot of chickens and they were low on the pecking order there is also some other ointment that deters pecking too but i dont remember the name but we keep the hemeroid cream for their combs too so its what we use.

 

[Nutcase]

You're right, they do peck her. She has always been bullied but this has only developed in the last 7-10 months (she's about 2 years old). Can I get black sunflower seeds at the supermarket or should I look in a pet shop?? What about the ointment you mentioned?

 

[kamra]

you should be able to get it at the feed store or tractor supply, I think its called rooster booster, i get my sunflower seeds from walmart here its 17$ for a 25lb bag.