WHAT HAPPENED TO MY CHICKEN'S FEATHERS

[The cucco kid]

Me and my Dad saw that the chickens have been losing feathers, One of them have their feathers missing on their neck, and the other is looking awful, all of her feathers on her bottom are missing, there are literally no feathers left on her bottom, not one. We are kind of new to this so we do not know what to do. Here is what they look like down below.

 

[sweaterthebroodyrooster]

Missing feathers on the back and neck might just have been pulled out when mating, if you have a rooster.

When you say 'bottom feathers' do you mean around their butt or the chest/belly area?

 

[WallacetheKhakiCampbell]

Back of the head and neck is most likely due to a rooster pulling them out while mating. Chickens pluck their bottom feathers if they are broody. Have the hens without bottom feathers been spending more time in the nesting box than usual? Do they screech when you try to take eggs from under them?

(and I say broody because in the picture your hen is fluffed up in a nesting box, and if I'm right she's an Australorp? they can be a very broody breed)


There are other causes like mites and lice though. Inspect the skin at the base of the fluff around their vent for disgusting little lice (and their eggs on feather shafts) crawling around.

 

[The cucco kid]

We do not have a rooster, the spot where one of them is losing feathers is on their chest

 

[WallacetheKhakiCampbell]

We do not have a rooster, the spot where one of them is losing feathers is on their chest

How old are they? could they just be molting?

 

[WallacetheKhakiCampbell]

Can you post like a full picture of the hen(s)

 

[sweaterthebroodyrooster]

We do not have a rooster, the spot where one of them is losing feathers is on their chest

If it's on her chest she's most likely just going broody (it's not the season for molting). Unless she breaks she is going to try to hatch eggs. It is broody season.

 

[sweaterthebroodyrooster]

https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/what-exactly-is-a-broody-hen-and-how-to-stop-it/

This is an amazing article on broodies and what to do with them

 

[The cucco kid]

picture

They are a year and a half old. The one sitting down is the one missing a flip ton of feathers on her belly
and has a red spot, she has just been sitting in that one box for a couple of days now. The rest of the barred rock have a little missing on their necks but besides that they are just fine. Same with the australthorpes, one of them is not missing any feathers, and the other has a tiny amount of feathers missing on her belly, but other than that, she seems just fine.

 

[WallacetheKhakiCampbell]

They are a year and a half old. The one sitting down is the one missing a flip ton of feathers on her belly
and has a red spot, she has just been sitting in that one box for a couple of days now. The rest of the barred rock have a little missing on their necks but besides that they are just fine. Same with the australthorpes, one of them is not missing any feathers, and the other has a tiny amount of feathers missing on her belly, but other than that, she seems just fine.View attachment 2755175View attachment 2755171

Good news! Your chickens are fine. The one with a big bald spot on her chest and is sitting in the box is broody. She wants to hatch out eggs. There are plenty of articles on BYC you can read. The other chickens is just natural. Chickens lose feathers sometimes, and chickens fight with each other over dominance and end up losing feathers that way. The main targets when fighting are the head and neck feathers.