O.K. I've looked at all of the questions pertaining to chickens that might apply, but no help so far. We live in southwest Florida. We have 18 hens and 1 rooster (RIR). They are eating well, scratch and scraps every day. We are having fairly warm weather (70's). They roam during the day and are put up at night. Within the last three weeks all of our birds are loosing their back-end feathers. First it was the hens. We figured the rooster was getting pretty agressive with them. He usually just picks the neck feathers. But recently we noticed that the rooster has lost of of his back feathers. It is bald as a babies' but. Not bloody though. We don't see them pecking on each other during the day, and they seem pretty content at night. They do flap around in the dirt during the day, but that is pretty normal. Should we be concerend about mites? Should we get them checked out at our Extension office? Does anyone have any ideas for me? They are eating good and laying about 16-18 eggs a day! It just started to rain, so that's not a problem either. We also have two game hens in another hutch, but they are just fine. I would appreciate any and all responces.

Sincerely, Mrs. Tweety (Kelli Smith)

-- Kelli Smith (starmanandfamily@hotmail.com), February 23, 2002

Answers

Could they be moltimg?I know that is typical for this time of year with chickens.

-- Johna (marcnjohna@aol.com), February 23, 2002.

Kelli, might post your question where the experts are: www.poultryconnection.com, I have ducks, no chickens. Hope you will let us know if you solve this. Sounds worrisome. LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), February 23, 2002.

2 thoughts..one would be lice which like the vent area..grab bird and turn it upside down and examine the vent area, the lice are tiny redish specks that will run for cover in the feathers,2 things I have used successfully are D.Earth liberaly worked into the feathers to reach the skin and a pyrethrum dip sold for dogs and puppies to kill fleas.Be sure to check the rooster for the lice as his mating(vent to vent contact)is a direct method of spread through the flock, so if any have them he will. The other thing would be a lack of fiber in the diet; it can cause feather eating..check around to see if the feathers are laying all over or if they are missing entirely; if missing get some good leafy hay and chop it up and put in the coop for them.

-- Bee White (bee@hereintown.net), February 24, 2002.

Might look at this link: Mississppi State Univ. Ext. Services, http://msucares.com/poultry/diseases/poultry_feathers.html, it talks about mites and lice and permethrin to control them as an earlier poster suggested.

-- BC (desertdweller44@yahoo.com), February 24, 2002.

Hello Kelli, I usually don't post, just read, but if this is any help to you, it's worth it. If you check youe poultry and find mites, you can go to the feed store and get a spray called "adam's flea and tick" spray for dogs. Folks at the poultry information exchange have recomended it to me, and I had good luck. Also, you mentioned you feed scratch and scraps. The scraps are fine as long as you're careful

-- Littlefarmer (nospam@hotmail.com), February 24, 2002.

Hello Kelli, I usually don't post, just read, but if this is any help to you, it's worth it. If you check youe poultry and find mites, you can go to the feed store and get a spray called "adam's flea and tick" spray for dogs. Folks at the poultry information exchange have recomended it to me, and I had good luck. Also, you mentioned you feed scratch and scraps. Scraps are great as long as you're careful what you give. Corn scratch is just like candy to chickens, so please consider feeding as a treat instead. All chickens need a balanced diet such as layer pellets or crumble to keep their bodies healthy while laying. Another thing you can try is cat food. If your chickens are in moult or back off on laying due to moult, give them a bit of wet or dry cat food with their meal, maybe once or twice a week. The higher protien level helps them re-grow feathers faster and also helps in egg production. Best of luck to you and your flock!

-- Littlefarmer (nospam@hotmail.com), February 24, 2002.

If you know their favorite dust bath area, sprinkle some 7 dust in the dirt then mix it up. when they flop around in their dirt bath, they'll get the 7 everywhere it needs to go. i would also sprinkle some in the coop. also if you have ashes from a fireplace, take a bucketful and dump it in their dirt bath area. as long as it's hardwood ash and not wood that's been treated with chemicals it will also aid in keeping mites at bay.

Chickens need a boost in protein to help grow back feathers. give them some dry cat food soaked in water & they'll think their in heaven!

Also, quacker's right on that poultry website. post there & you'll get more ideas from poultry people. very helpful over there, too.

-- Buk (noaddy@chickenrus.com), February 24, 2002.

LOL! I figured I'd better finish saying what I started, or risk looking even more feeble than ever!

-- Littlefarmer (nospam@hotmail.com), February 24, 2002.

donning flackjacket for this one folks ;>) the DE I sujested is a mechanical insect killer,the tiny sharp particles abrade/pierce the inscect and they dry out and die. The pyrethrum I sujested is an organic pesticide made from the pyrethrum daisy and breaks down quickly in the environment. I no longer use Sevin(7) dust as it contains carbyl and several reports show farmers with bad reactions to this product over a period of exposure. Another note on lice, chickens get several kinds, the feather lice do NOT bite the bird but live on dead skin and feather sheath particles and these look white/clear; biting(bloodsucking) lice will always look rusty to orange because of the blood inside them and these bother the H*ll out of the birds! For the squemish, even if you were to get either of these lice on you they will not live on people;does send a shudder down the old spine tho! Also you can add the DE to their "dustbowl" and it works wonderfully there as long as it does not get wet.

-- Bee White (bee@hereintown.net), February 24, 2002.

I second the 7dust recommendation. The stuff just works! I dust my birds right down to the skin and then treat their pen and roosts. It normally takes just one application. I dust all new birds introduced to my flock and I rarely have mite problems(which is definately what it sounds like is the problem with your birds). I try to dust my birds outside in a slight breeze and I stand upwind. You should do this if you use DE too as it can cause silicosis of the lungs. Not sure if 7dust causes that or not but the stuff just can't be good for you to breathe.

-- Amanda (mrsgunsmyth@hotmail.com), February 24, 2002.

Try separating your rooster from the hens. Roosters will pull all a hen's back feathers out trying to mate too often. Some hens will also do this. They will also pull each other's tail feathers out. Biggest problem with them doing this is they will get sun burned on the exposed skin. kim

-- kim in CO (kimk61252@hotmail.com), February 25, 2002.