[peter and jean]

hi everyone. we are very worried about ava our bald chicken. she had a bought of lice last year which we treated with frontline as advised by you kind people on here. however as the other girls are looking wonderful ava is looking very sorry for herself. she has a totally bald neck and around her rear halfway up to her breast is bald. we also noticed quite a nasty looking sore on her chest earlier today. we applied a liberal dose of antiseptic cream to the sore and the bald areas.  her feathers around her rear end look really downy and not fully formed. she is eating drinking laying scratching around and basically doing everything we expect her to do but she looks a sorry old state. i really dont think she is in moult and there are no signs of mites or ticks anymore so what could it possibly be. i shall try and take some photos and post them on here (if that is possible) so you can get a better idea of her plight. i know this is all a bit long winded but i trying to paint as thorough picture as possible. many thanks in advance peter jean (and ava)

[joyfull]

Photos would be good  .
She may be going through a partial moult which usually does happen in patches around their body.

[peter and jean]

hi joy. i have tried to post some pictures but the site keeps giving a timed out error. i appreciate your advice but in my opinion she is not moulting as she is losing feathers but no sign of any growing back and she has been like this for a while now. we are really very worried about her and i think the next step is a trip to the vets. if you have a personal e mail address you are willing to give me maybe i could send you some pictures directly without having to post them on herem many thanks for your time jean and peter.

email address removed to prevent spam. I have sent you a private email.  

[compostqueen]

She might need a boost to help those feathers come through. Poultry spice given as instructed on the tin is a good thing to give to help condition

If you let Joy and GA see the pictures they will be able to point you in the right direction and advise whether a trip to the vet is on the cards 

Good luck with her 

[peter and jean]

thank you mrs compost. i think we have some poultry spice so will give it a go. i really hope it works or i might have to get her a woolly jumper

[Lindsey]

Hi, I have had a similar problem developing since January with 3 of my 4 hens.  They have large bald bright red areas, mainly around the rear but now spreading to necks. No red mite although I cleared a small infestation at the start of the problem four months ago.  They are getting balder every week.  I have isolated the hen that doesnt appear to be affected in case she is pecking the others but no improvement.  My dog has just developed what appeared to be a patch of mange (sarcoptic mange I think is the full name) and I treated it with Advocate which is a prescription Frontline-type of drug and I want to know if it is safe to use on my hens and if so what would be the egg withdrawal period.  I would like to avoid a trip to the vet if I can sort this out myself.  Any advice would be gratefully received.

[joyfull]

i would suggest you contact the manufacturer to find out if it would be safe. I doubt that it is licensed for poultry though.

[joyfull]

a photo can be found here