I have a 9 month old Welsumer hen who just started losing a lot of feathers. Weirdest of all, they have mostly gone from her head and neck, stopping at a perfect line around her neck so that it looks like she got her head stuck in a contraption and backed herself out, removing all the feathers on the way. (This isn't possible as she's got 1/2 inch hardware cloth on her coop)
I examined her closely today and saw no insects whatsoever. She continued to lose feathers all the time I was examining her, but I could see tiny new feathers starting under the big ones. She can't be molting already can she?
The other odd things she's doing is that she's stepping very high, like she's walking up stairs, even though she's just on short grass. She's also looking up at the top of the coop a lot. Odd.
The only things that have changed in her environment is that I just sold a hen from her coop, and possibly she's made a bid for top hen and got pecked for her efforts. The other change is that let week I switched their feed from Half Moon pellets to Scratch and Peck feed, which has no soy.
I dusted her with diatomaceous earth just in case it's a bug issue, and have added apple cider vinegar with the mother to their water. Any other suggestions?
Thank you!
I examined her closely today and saw no insects whatsoever. She continued to lose feathers all the time I was examining her, but I could see tiny new feathers starting under the big ones. She can't be molting already can she?
The other odd things she's doing is that she's stepping very high, like she's walking up stairs, even though she's just on short grass. She's also looking up at the top of the coop a lot. Odd.
The only things that have changed in her environment is that I just sold a hen from her coop, and possibly she's made a bid for top hen and got pecked for her efforts. The other change is that let week I switched their feed from Half Moon pellets to Scratch and Peck feed, which has no soy.
I dusted her with diatomaceous earth just in case it's a bug issue, and have added apple cider vinegar with the mother to their water. Any other suggestions?
Thank you!
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