Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: stamford on September 30, 2009, 19:05
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Hi all, Sorry I havent been on for like aaaaaages and you probabley think that I only come on here when I want something :wub:
Wellllll, I kinda need some advice please
I have 5 chickens ( 2 ISA Brown, 2 Speckledys and a Dorking ) and the 2 Browns have been losing feathers since I erradicated the red mite back in late May / early June..... It looks really bad now, the skin looks inflamed and now seems like the neck is starting to shed feathers aswell.. No sign of mite, the other chickens are spotless... Its not molting, looks worse than that... :ohmy:
Heres some pics I grabbed tonight, best I could do, * wouldnt keep still long enough !!
(http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee194/callum0711/IMG_0743.jpg)
(http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee194/callum0711/IMG_0745.jpg)
(http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee194/callum0711/IMG_0753.jpg)
Any ideas ?
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Why do you think its not a moult?
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looks like moult to me ???
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Really :blink: It looks bad, surley it would have stopped by now wouldnt it ? How long does it last for ? There are always sticking the heads through the netting and rubbing themselves against the netting when I approach the run in the garden.. They seem like caged lions and tigers pacing up and down till I let them out, the other chickens just sit there waiting for the door to open
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How long has it been since she lost her featers?
Why do you not have your electric netting on?
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Do they sleep on their purches or on the floor ?
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Although I have electric netting ( the eglu netting ), I have never had it connected to the mains, never been required and has been like that since I got the chickens.
4 of the chickens sleep on the perch but the Browns are the ones normally up there
The Browns were actually losing the feathers just before the red mite took hold so its probabley since March ish
The skin looks really sore, theres no signs of pecking or feather eating and apart from feather loss they look as healthy as they've ever been, nice red combs and faces..
Everytime I clean the house out, I make sure its all dusted before I put new straw and chippings in and then I lightly dust the top layer
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Can you honestly tell the "brown ones" apart?
If they have rubbed there feathers off doing "something" then they will not regrow propper till they go through a moult. So you could be unlucky and a chuck moult and then "loose" feathers and be stuck like it for a whole year.
There are ways of getting chickens to moult early but it puts stress on the bird.
It also may look worse as you may not see the girls first thing and at the moment see them at night when they have a full crop.
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Both Browns are exactley the same with feather loss, they could be twins !! There is a possibility that they've rubbed off on the netting as they're always sticking their heads through for the grass... Daytime of night time, they look exactley the same, well maybe not as sore looking
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Noticed yesterday and this morning that there is quite a substantial amount of feathers on the floor from the Silver Dorking, but she's not patchy at all and looks a picture of health ???
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Have checked for external parasites? If not my be moult.
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Cant see any signs of parasites, the other hens are fine and in good shape, surley if it were parasites then they'd all be loike it :unsure:
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sounds like she is moulting, quite normal, pop a little poultry spice and cod liver oil in their feed if it looks like a fast moult :)