wintertime in NH

[backyardnh]

It has finally gotten cold up here and I don't think my girls are adapting well. I have two birds losing feathers around their neck. I don't see mites on them... What could be causing this feather loss?

Thanks in advance

Josh Bohmier

 

[Eggcessive]

Feather pickers. I have noticed a couple of my girls missing feathers on front of neck too. They are low in the pecking order. I have my suspicions on who is doing it, and when I'm sure the guilty one will be separated. I just spray the bare spots with Blu-Kote.

 

[CMV]

How old are they? Could they be molting?

Mites tend to be a big problem here in NH. Did you check them very carefully at night? The first time my girls had mites I didn't catch it until it was nearly too late. I searched and searched, but couldn't see them until they were so infested the mites were crawling on me during the searches. I still didn't see any on the birds, but since I found them on me it was pretty proof positive that they had them.

It has been quite cool here, but your birds should be fine even if they are missing a few feathers. They know enough to stay out of the wind and rain/snow when they are bald-ish.

 

[csummer8882]

I just posted a week or so ago about one of my 8 month olds losing neck feathers and I was told molting. She does have quills there and it seems that new ones are growing back in but she was bare for quite a while. I was surprised that mine would molt this early but most responses came back to that.....Good luck!