Why does my hen pull her feathers out?

[MrsGray1211]

Good morning y'all!
I have a hen who has become consumed with pulling her own feathers out! She is not eating them, as they are all over the coop. She is in a large coop with three other hens. I had her in my other coop with a rooster, I thought he was doing it to her so I put her with the older ladies and it got worse. I read on this forum that this could be a protein deficiency so I've been trying to increase her protein. I switched to a 20% crumble, and have been adding mealworms and scrambled eggs to their feed. I checked for mites or lice and do not see any on her, and none of the other hens are experiencing this type of behavior. She did go through molt about two months ago, but her feathers never really filled back in. Can anyone help me figure this out? She looks so sad!
Thank you in advance!

 

[nuthatched]

She could be molting or getting picked, have you seen her pull them out? Have you treated for mites?
The high protein feed is good enough, no neat for meal worms or eggs

 

[MrsGray1211]

Will they molt twice in one year? She just went through molt a few months ago with my other girls. I spray for mites monthly when I deep clean the coop. I have inspected her and do not see any evidence of them. None of her coopmates are exhibiting signs of mites.
I have always fed a 20% protein crumble so I figured if it was protein deficiency maybe that wasn’t enough so I added the other items.

 

[nuthatched]

Will they molt twice in one year? She just went through molt a few months ago with my other girls. I spray for mites monthly when I deep clean the coop. I have inspected her and do not see any evidence of them. None of her coopmates are exhibiting signs of mites.
I have always fed a 20% protein crumble so I figured if it was protein deficiency maybe that wasn’t enough so I added the other items.

Hmm. Was it a hard molt like this?

 

[MrsGray1211]

No, this is the worst I’ve ever seen. I’ve only owned chickens for a little over two years but I’ve never had one of my girls look this naked

 

[MrsGray1211]

I just looked up hard molt and I think maybe this is what she is going through. She is very cranky too Thank you for this advice! I’ll just keep waiting and hope she gets back to normal soon.

 

[aart]

I spray for mites monthly when I deep clean the coop.

What are you spraying with?
Not good to apply insecticide as a preventative as it can cause resistance.