[Craig69]

Have just been to clean the girls out & sat in the run with them for a while.
Had all 3 climbing over me, but noticed 2 of them have lost their feathers underneath between their legs?
Now i know 1 of them always sleeps on the floor & the other on occasions.
I was wondering if this was the reason for the feather loss - I have tried & tried to get them all on the perch at night, but they just won't have it
They are in one of those nice pretty looking houses which i wish i hadn't got now as they are a pain to clean out & reach in to get the 2 awkward girls on their perch!
They don't seem to have any sores on them & seems quite healthy & happy, even though 2 of them have stopped laying everyday.
Any suggestions please ??

[carolbriar]

I have the same with one of my girls.  Feathers everywhere but when I checked it is mainly underneath and the fluffy feathers with the odd large feather.  She also hasn't laid for nearly2 weeks.  I am almost certain that they are moulting.  I spoke to my vet yesterday as I was worried about my hen and he thought she was moulting and the reason she was probably looking miserable was because it was wet and windy and that she was probably feeling the cold. As long as she was still eating then to leave things to see how they go.   I have just finished flubenvet, cleaned out the house, red mite spray in the house and frontline on the hens so have covered things I thought it could be.  I have checked her for creepy crawlies and can't find anything.  My girl is definately moulting. 

[tesni]

don't know of any feather implications from sleeping on the floor, gaining warmth from huddling on the perch may be something to consider & there are potential foot problems, so it is worth persevering in your efforts to get them to perch.  The feather loss could be the start of moult - some of mine look a bit ragged with bare bots - my buff orp looks very disreputable at the moment as she is bare front back and neck