yes, another "bare butt" question

[delfargo]

about half of my 27 chickens are missing all or most of the feathers on thier butts.
when it first started happening it was the feathers on thier backs, so i was sure it was one of the roosters causing it as he was mean when he mated the hens, treading, pecking, pulling at thier necks, etc..(i had seen him being violent when in the sexual act). once i got him out of the way (and into a crock pot) they started losing butt feathers. i assumed this was because the hens who were being taken care of by the now dead rooster were re-establishing the "pecking order". i'd see them chase each other around pulling butt feathers.
now it has gotten to the point where half of my chickens are missing ALL the butt feathers and thier butts are getting red and swollen looking. yesterday i noticed some bloody scabs on some of the bare butts.
i have seen no mites, but will inspect again with a magnifying glass tonight.
so...2 questions -
if it IS mites, i've heard you can dust them with sevin dust. how much do you use and how do you dust them?
if it ISN'T mites, just pecking... what can i do about it?
thanx a million, you gurus of chickendom.

 

[erijn5]

AS for the 7 dust, you can either just sit them down in a lg. bowl or something to catch the extra dust. Make sure and get it all over them rub it in very well...or I have put a kiddy pool in the pen with sawdust in it with the 7 in it and they dusted in it...or I have taken a brown paper bag put the 7 in it and kept their head out and then just tipped them around a little,,,,that worked the best for me with young chickens, they were small enough to fit in it..

As for the pecking, I have put BAGBALM on there really thick they do not eat through that, but it does gather things like straw, dirt, and your eggs will be sloppy..boo, but once you break the habit they will forget about doing it... good luck

Hope this helps!

 

[chicmom]

I had the same problem recently. Over the winter, I discovered my hens had lice. I was devastated....this is my first time ever with parasites, and I'm on my third year of chickening. Anyhow, I used poultry dust, and everybody got a good dusting, then you always repeat that again in 10 days to kill the little nits that hatch out of the eggs.

Soooo, I noticed that some of my hens and even my rooster had bare butts, and a few had a bare back just above the tail feathers, and my rooster had a bare spot on his breast, just under his neck.

After dusting, gutting and cleaning the whole coop, half of my hens looked perfect and half looked raggedy. I noticed that I had one hen that just seemed obsessed with pecking everybody. I'm hoping that since they get to free range now that the weather is nice, that she will no longer be bored, thus feeling the need to peck. But she will get the axe if she doesn't stop.

You can often look for the one chicken that looks perfect, and there is your feather pulling offender!

In the mean time, I spray the bald spots with blue cote, and the blue coloring seems to help disguise the bald spots and gives them a chance to heal.

Good luck! I know this is an annoying problem.

Sharon

 

[delfargo]

i saw this "blue cote" stuff at the "farm & fleet" but it seemed to be for horses and didn't say anything about using it on poultry. is that the right stuff? and how do you use it, just cover thier bare butts with it? this will hide the redness so it won't be as attractive to peck? is that the concept?
as for sevin dust... it's o.k. for the chickens to dust in it? i always thought it was un-safe. what if they eat it or it gets in thier eyes?
we used to use it in our garden and i seem to remember reading on the lable to not get it on your pets and so on... so it's o.k. for chickens?
i just want to make sure i'm understanding this right.

 

[erijn5]

Yes the blue coat is fine for chickens, I have also used it on cats, dogs, chickens, and my horses. I forgot about that

It did work good! (7) try not to get it in their eyes that is why I put them in a feed bag, or brown bag with theur head out, make sure that you buy the powder not the granules...they could eat the granules, but I have never noticed mine eating the dust...Every summer I sprinkle it throughout the pen and in the nesting boxes also...I even put a fine coat of it in their dusting holes so they can dust it through on their own...Hope this helps also!

PS. wears old clothes when you put the blue kote on, it has a dobber in it, but if the chicky shakes or you drip it will stain...if you get it on your hands it will come off in a couple of days, gloves would be best..