[tessa123123]

Hi,
I have a 2 and a half year old sussex-cross hen who for the last 6 months has been the victim of feather picking along with some others in her flock.
I have tried almost every product available including NET-TEX, SCARPER and UKADEX, but it just gets preened off.
Up until 4 days ago, she was still happy - eating and behaving and laying normally.
Now she does not come out into the garden to eat the grass, but just stands there alone in the run as if huddled up and has not laid for 4 days.
If I throw her food, she will eat it, but she is not showing any other interest in the usual chicken activities.
We took her to the vets a while ago when the feather picking started, but they could not find anything wrong with her. a test for mites was negative.
Do you think she could be 'moulting' as without her usual set of feathers, it is hard to tell? She has no feathers along her underneath, front and back or tops of legs.
She shows no signs of respiratory problems. Do I need to cull her, or do you think she will recover and re-grow her feathers?

[Aunt Sally]

Dificult to tell without a picture.  /Can you take one of her and post it here ?

This is how:

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=19476.msg100026#msg100026

[tessa123123]

Hi,
although she had gone to bed, I have managed to get some piccies.
Trying to upload...

[tessa123123]

more piccies:

[sarah f]

yes it could possibly be a moult, they do moult in patches and can take weeks and weeks to grow feathers back.

[tessa123123]

would that be the reason that she has lost all interest in normal chicken activities: eating grass, dust bathing, running around? She seems to stand in one spot motionless for most of the day?

[jhub]

A chicken keeper I know uses Vick ointment to deter feather pecking. Has anyone here had any success with this?
jane