Zombie-looking chickens...

[CoupeDeVille]

I'm sure this has been covered here many times, but here goes again !!

I've got 8 hens just over a year old.All healthy, almost every day an egg from each ( even all thru the winter ! ) Lively birds, love running around the yard, and they're a lot of fun..

The problem ? They've been losing their feathers off their back-ends since this past February. I've seen one pluck a feather off another hen more than once, mostly the fuzzy ones under the wings and tail.. My neighbor told me that they look like something from Dawn of the Dead !!

So, after ruling out mites, fleas or a molt, I'm thinking protein deficiencies..Seems that everyone who visits our house brings along a bag of kitchen scraps and tosses it into the run. Hens are very well fed with greens and fruits, so much so that they neglect their chicken pellets in the coop..I've added a game-bird/starter feed of 24% protein mixed into the Layena pellets and added some sunflower seeds into their run to help them out..and kept the treats to a minimum..

Sound like the right thing to do ? and will these feathers grow back in eventually ? Couple of them have a good sized bald spot, wish I had some pics to show..

Thanks !!

 

[FireTigeris]

Quote:
SOUNDS GREAT, LET US KNOW. /kills the caps lock/

 

[Celtic Chick]

Most likely a protein deficiency then. Soy beans cooked for a minimum of 15 minutes is a good source. They will eat meat & fish also, if you'd rather go that route.
Their feathers will grow back at their next molt.
Good chicken protein link:
http://www.lionsgrip.com/protein.html

 

[off-grid hen]

Sounds good, keep us updated. What about putting up a sign by where people are dropping table scraps? Just to nicely tell them to not do that for a while maybe. Unseen food donations could stymie you're efforts.

 

[CoupeDeVille]

Quote:
Well...I gave it a few months of a balanced diet, lots of TLC, and applications of Hot-Pick..Got a little better, and a local vets office that works with farm animals thinks it's more behavioral that nutritional..

Plenty of square footage for these hens, I guess they're just bored..

Ehhh...is there such a thing as a hen psychiatrist ?

 

[chicmom]

Spray their bald spots (including the butts) with blue cote. Apparently, the blue isn't a real attracting color for chickens, so that might help them not be so interested in pecking and pulling feathers.

Also, and I did this myself, if you set and watch them, sometimes you will see that it's just one or two hens doing alot of the pecking. Then you could put pinless peepers on them, which is supposed to deter pecking. They look like goofy little plastic sun glasses.....

 

[Rooneytune]

I like to open a can of cheep beans for my flock about every other week. I try to get the low sodium type when I can. They especially love black beans!