Why is my chick plucking her foot feathers?

[thefeatherlady]

Search as I may, I have not been able to find a thread on this. Could only find birds plucking others feathers. I have 2 beautiful 9 week old Light Brahma chicks and one of them keeps plucking her own foot feathers. The other one is fine. She will stop when I tell her to stop but since they are free ranging, I can't always watch when she is doing it. She is very healthy and seems very happy. They love being close to me and they go in and out of the coop all day, depending on the breeze or if a storm is coming. They have learned to go in the coop at dusk and it only took them 3 days to figure it out. I've been putting meal worms on the ramp trying to get them to go into the roost, but they just get the worms and go back down. Will they eventually figure out where the roost is or will I have to work on it some more? I'm really concerned about her pulling out her foot feathers. They are so beautiful and I'd like them to stay that way. I have included a picture showing her feet. Not all the feathers had filled in before she started plucking them. Thank you in advance for any advice.

 

[WyandotteIndeed]

She looks like a Brahma and appears to be very healthy, but... Most chickens are exposed to various parasites just by walking around outside. There are feather mites and lice and a certain type of very tiny mite that prefers to burrow under the scales of the legs and feet of birds. You can dip her legs in vegetable oil every night when she goes to roost for 3 or 4 nights in a row and that will usually suffocate the little critters. You can use any vegetable type or blend, just not mineral or petrolium based oils which can be drying. Massage the oil in fairly well and you can rub some on her comb and wattles too. She may just be itching from the leg feathers coming in, but the oil should help relieve that too. I use diatomacious earth and oil every couple months on all my birds and that seems to keep them from itching or picking without the need for chemicals or pesticides. Good luck.

 

[thefeatherlady]

I'll try that. She's not real comfortable with me her holding her but I'll do my best. She hasn't found the roost yet but I'll keep trying to get her up there too. Thanks for the help.