What’s going on with these feathers?

[Highlandchx]

Hi everyone - about a month ago I noticed my one black austrlaorps tail feathers were looking wonky. I thought - okay weird - but nothing else seemed amiss. Fast forward to Christmas weekend - we had a deep freeze for 4 days - 0 degrees with -30 wind chills. Most of my flock came through seemingly unharmed but I’ve recently had another australorp test positive for Giardia so we’ve in the middle of administering Safeguard to our flock of 6. Well yesterday I noticed my 2 production blue tail feathers are getting wonky too! Is it the cold dryer weather or illness related? I’m lost. Three out of my 6 have these now. The fluffy tails look almost greasy. These girls are 9 months old so I don’t think they’re quite ready for a molt yet. I’ve attached pictures to see if anyone else has seen this or has any suggestions for the cause. I’ve read coccidia can cause ruffled feathers but I haven’t seen ann example of what that looks like exactly. Also I was told the fecal test also checked for coccidiosis and I was told that was negative. Thanks in advance!

 

[Peaches Lee]

To me it looks like the feathers are being broken or frayed by some physical obstruction. Like, maybe too close to a wall when they roost or something of that nature.

Or maybe they are doing a lot of grooming.

Just make sure they have high quality, nutritious food, maybe a little special treat (like yogurt) after dealing with that Arctic Apocalypse we had!

I think you are doing a good job of caring for them!

 

[Beccichka]

To me it looks like the feathers are being broken or frayed by some physical obstruction. Like, maybe too close to a wall when they roost or something of that nature.

Or maybe they are doing a lot of grooming.

Just make sure they have high quality, nutritious food, maybe a little special treat (like yogurt) after dealing with that Arctic Apocalypse we had!

I think you are doing a good job of caring for them!

This was very helpful. I am noticing this on the back of my hens near the tails. I thought maybe it was mites, but after reading your response...They have started laying in the last 3 weeks. Maybe their nesting boxes are doing this? What should we do about it?