Chickens Loosing Feathers

From: Sue Wilkinson (sue_at_redballoon.org.uk)
Date: 06/28/04 

Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2004 13:55:03 +0100

Hi, can anyone offer any advice? We've had our 2 Black Rock and 1 White
Star hens since Easter 2003. They were point of lay when we had them
and they've been doing a great job of laying ever since.

I had expected them to stop laying for a while in the winter and to
moult. But although they slowed down a bit, they didn't stop, nor did
they really moult.

However now they are looking decidedly worse for wear. One black hen
has a strip about 4cm long and 1cm wide bare patch under one ear running
down her neck. She also has hardly any feathers around her bum. You
don't really see it until she goes to the toilet, but then I realised
today that she's really bare down there and quite red and sore looking,
not around the vent but where the feathers join the bald area.

The other black hen looks OK on top, a bit scruffy, but not too bad, but
has a bald tummy and I noticed yesterday that the white hen is also very
thin under her tummy. They have been like this for a couple of months
now. I keep thinking perhaps it's a moult, but egg production is well
and there are no signs of new feathers. I've definately noticed the
worst one getting even worse this last week.

What could this be and what should I do? They have a clean house, good
bedding (chopped straw mixed with wood shavings which is sold as horse
bedding and has a disinfectant in with it), I feed them on Allan & Page
Layers Pellets and they get treats and scraps. The house is warm and dry.

Any advice, or fellow experiences much appreciated. I don't really want
to have to take them to the vet. They charge a fortune and just give
every animal an antibiotic jab!

Sue

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