Whats wrong with my RI red feathers?

[Coopking]

hi,

Please help both of my RI reds looks like the the picture, one more so than the other. No signs of mites, not being picked on by other hens or rooster.

 

[mixedbreeds]

Looks like damage from rooster breeding

 

[rebrascora]

I agree, it looks to be rooster or more likely cockerel (a male under a year old) damage. Cockerels tend to be harder on hens because they are less balanced and they are more rampant, so over mating is more likely to happen.
You might want to pen the guy up for a few month away from the hens, or get some chicken saddles with wing protectors for the girls. How many females to males do you have.

 

[Coopking]

thanks, the photo shows some rooster damage but there is also something else going on. Tail photo shows the feather loss as well. Also our rooster feathers are doing the same thing.

 

[Coopking]

The rooster has just been re homed (two days ago) so right now its a hen only flock, however we have some 10 week old additions which we are unable to sex right now so that may change.

 

[rebrascora]

Have you checked for lice and mites? If you can't find anything on the birds or in the coop (red mites breed in the cracks and crevices of the coop and crawl onto the hens at night when they are roosting to suck their blood) then it may be depluming mites which are microscopic. Pour on Ivermectin would be the treatment for that. You just place a few drops on the skin at the back of the birds neck and it is absorbed into the skin and works systemically.

What part of the world are you in? It helps if you include your state or nearest city and country on your profile page so that we can see at a glance each time you post and can be very relevant for lots of things, so advice/suggestions can be tailored to your season/climate/available products in your country etc.

 

[Coopking]

I have checked the chickens for mites and lice found nothing. I will check the coop! Didn't know about that trick. I'm in Southern California.

 

[rebrascora]

It may well be depluming mites then. If you spend some time observing them, do they seem to be preening and dust bathing quite a lot?
I would guess that you would get pour on Ivermectin from Tractor Supply or you can give them an oral dose of Ivermectin but I am not sure of the quantity. Ivermectin is not licenced for use in chickens but some people use it for worming as well as to treat depluming and scaley leg mites. You will want to consider an egg withdrawal period after treatment.
I am not personally familiar with Depluming mites. Maybe our cooler climate here in the UK makes them less able to flourish. So perhaps you might want to do your own research to clarify it is what you are dealing with and confirm treatment and dosage.

Best wishes

Barbara

PS. It is also a good idea to familiarise yourself with what red mites look like and how to check for them in the coop.... some people wipe a white cloth/tissue along the underside of the roost at night whilst the hens are roosting and check for spots of blood. I tend to check the ends of the roost bars in any little gaps and use a soft dustpan brush to sweep debris from such cracks and crevices onto a white dustpan and then crush anything that moved with the back of a fingernail and if you get a smear of blood, you have mites. In a warm climate like California, they can be more of a problem as they can breed year round.

 

[Coopking]

I checked the coop found nothing, went ahead and cleaned it anyway. The girls are not taking excessive dirt baths but do itch their heads and occasionally sneeze. They free range in 1 acre + yard, so they are exposed to wild birds rabbits etc.

 

[000]

I also live in california and a few years ago I had a RIR from the feed store that molted ALL of it's feathers then none of the ones on the back grew in for 2 years... I'll have to find a picture of her... It was bazzar. Sometimes weird things happen