- Jan 18, 2015
- 7
- 1
- 62
I'm hoping for some help. I am hoping that my hens have decided to molt in the dead of winter and that they're not sick.
Doing some online searching, it seems like they could be losing feathers for several reasons. Here's what I've done to self-diagnose. Please tell me what I'm missing. I'm also uploading pictures in case you can be of help. My main concern is that it's been really cold and I'm worried about them without feathers. (It's mostly been neck and tail feathers.)
I don't think it's lice. We've got 2 chickens losing feathers (it started with just one). We've looked at their skin and feathers. No eggs are present on the feather shafts, and we have seen no movement of little creepy crawlies.
I don't think it's mites. The pictures online indicate that the skin would be irritated or have brown spots. We don't have that. I keep the coop clean--cleaning it daily, and I've tried to remove most of the spider webs. Pictures of my coop are below too in case you see anything. I use sweet PDZ as a bedding as it seems to have gotten chicken approved reviews, and we keep the nest boxes full of clean pine chips (with the golf-ball nest eggs). They also have a small sandbox to dust in if they like.
I don't think it's protein/nutrient deficiency. I give them an organic feed with 16% minimum crude protein, 5% minimum crude fat, 3% max crude fiber, 2.5 % - 8% calcium, 0.6% minimum phosphorus, and 0.3-0.6% salt. We have also made our own chicken scratch that they get on occasion which includes a bit of corn, peanuts (which they love), meal worms, sunflower seeds, orange lentils, oats, raisins, wheat berries, flax seed, cracked barley (I can't remember what else we put in). We give them several handfuls a day. Plus, we have a compost area in the run, so they happily dig up worms and bugs all day long. When we're home, we let them out in the yard for a while to enjoy green things. We tend not to let them out when we're not home because a hawk has been hanging out above the run.
It might be stress? It's cold. The hawk's been hanging around. There haven't been any other changes to the coop/run area and we haven't been handling them any more than normal.
I don't think it's boredom. As you'll see from the picture of the run, they've got plenty to keep them occupied - a swing and a cabbage ball that they completely ignore, a mirror that they're interested in, and lots of things to jump or perch on.
Pecking order? I would have said it's the pecking order as Pip, my wheaten Ameraucana, is at the bottom of the pecking order, but Penny, my gray mix (I think they said she was part orpington?), has been at the top of the pecking order. They're both losing feathers. (So far, my Wyandotte and Golden Comet seem unaffected.) There hasn't been any blood and the feathers that have come out don't look eaten or damaged.
So are they molting or have I missed something? I've tried to include pictures (it's surprisingly difficult to get good pictures of chicken skin). Any information would be greatly appreciated.
PHOTOS
Pip and Penny are the ones losing feathers around their necks, their tails, and their downy feathers.
It looks like new feathers are pushing through, which makes me think/hope they're molting. The skin is clear around the feathers. (This view from the tail above the vent.)
The feathers from Penny's feet are also coming off--but also look like new feathers are pushing through. The bottom of her feet are clean.
Pictures of interior of coop. The feathers inside were lost since I cleaned it out this morning.
The run, bottom left is some sand for them, there's also a perch, the food, the cabbage, swing, hay bale and logs, and mirror. It's a 10'x10' space with a roof, so it stays pretty dry on rainy days like today.
This is the hawk: This walnut tree is about 30 feet behind the run (to the left in the picture above).
Doing some online searching, it seems like they could be losing feathers for several reasons. Here's what I've done to self-diagnose. Please tell me what I'm missing. I'm also uploading pictures in case you can be of help. My main concern is that it's been really cold and I'm worried about them without feathers. (It's mostly been neck and tail feathers.)
I don't think it's lice. We've got 2 chickens losing feathers (it started with just one). We've looked at their skin and feathers. No eggs are present on the feather shafts, and we have seen no movement of little creepy crawlies.
I don't think it's mites. The pictures online indicate that the skin would be irritated or have brown spots. We don't have that. I keep the coop clean--cleaning it daily, and I've tried to remove most of the spider webs. Pictures of my coop are below too in case you see anything. I use sweet PDZ as a bedding as it seems to have gotten chicken approved reviews, and we keep the nest boxes full of clean pine chips (with the golf-ball nest eggs). They also have a small sandbox to dust in if they like.
I don't think it's protein/nutrient deficiency. I give them an organic feed with 16% minimum crude protein, 5% minimum crude fat, 3% max crude fiber, 2.5 % - 8% calcium, 0.6% minimum phosphorus, and 0.3-0.6% salt. We have also made our own chicken scratch that they get on occasion which includes a bit of corn, peanuts (which they love), meal worms, sunflower seeds, orange lentils, oats, raisins, wheat berries, flax seed, cracked barley (I can't remember what else we put in). We give them several handfuls a day. Plus, we have a compost area in the run, so they happily dig up worms and bugs all day long. When we're home, we let them out in the yard for a while to enjoy green things. We tend not to let them out when we're not home because a hawk has been hanging out above the run.
It might be stress? It's cold. The hawk's been hanging around. There haven't been any other changes to the coop/run area and we haven't been handling them any more than normal.
I don't think it's boredom. As you'll see from the picture of the run, they've got plenty to keep them occupied - a swing and a cabbage ball that they completely ignore, a mirror that they're interested in, and lots of things to jump or perch on.
Pecking order? I would have said it's the pecking order as Pip, my wheaten Ameraucana, is at the bottom of the pecking order, but Penny, my gray mix (I think they said she was part orpington?), has been at the top of the pecking order. They're both losing feathers. (So far, my Wyandotte and Golden Comet seem unaffected.) There hasn't been any blood and the feathers that have come out don't look eaten or damaged.
So are they molting or have I missed something? I've tried to include pictures (it's surprisingly difficult to get good pictures of chicken skin). Any information would be greatly appreciated.
PHOTOS
Pip and Penny are the ones losing feathers around their necks, their tails, and their downy feathers.
It looks like new feathers are pushing through, which makes me think/hope they're molting. The skin is clear around the feathers. (This view from the tail above the vent.)
The feathers from Penny's feet are also coming off--but also look like new feathers are pushing through. The bottom of her feet are clean.
Pictures of interior of coop. The feathers inside were lost since I cleaned it out this morning.
The run, bottom left is some sand for them, there's also a perch, the food, the cabbage, swing, hay bale and logs, and mirror. It's a 10'x10' space with a roof, so it stays pretty dry on rainy days like today.
This is the hawk: This walnut tree is about 30 feet behind the run (to the left in the picture above).
