Patridge bantam chicken poorly foot?

[mrshalobaby]

I have 2 GNR's, one of whom has a bald bum and a couple of other thin patches. I assumed the other was pecking her, and installed a bumper bit on her. There was little improvement and I wondered if the pecked areas were too badly damaged for the feathers to regrow. It wasn't until I saw a bloody area on the pecked featherless bum and on the pecked featherless girl's beak that it occurred to me that she could be doing it to herself. So, another bumper bit later (and one on the other girl just in case!) and the peckee is showing a significant improvement in 3 days with lots of regrowth visible. Now what I am wondering, is why could she be pulling her own feathers, sometimes drawing blood (for quite some time I might add)? Does anyone have any advice please? TIA!

Edited October 23, 2008 by Guest

[Egluntyne]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

 

Have you checked them for lice and or mites? She could be trying to get at an irritation.

[Stewartg1]

Don't they sometimes pull their feathers out when they are broody, to line the nest?

One of mine has done that in the past.

 

cheers

 

S.

[The Dogmother]

Broodiness is unlikely at this time of year, but lice are probably the cause - they irritate the skin and cause the hen to peck out her own feathers in an effort to stop the itching.

 

Check her and treat for lice if necessary, then spray her 'Brazilian' with a water spray that has a few drops of tea tree and lavender oils in it; that will stop the irritation... just wish that it worked on a few irritants that I can think of

[mrshalobaby]

Thanks, I will check for lice and mites asap.

[mrshalobaby]

Thanks for the advice... it seems the problem was down to red mites after all. I have given the a thorough clean and treated it with diatom, and also treated both girls with red mite powder. Baldy is looking much perkier and her feathers are regrowing nicely, although she still looks very silly with no tail feathers! I'm just hoping she will start laying again soon, she stopped completely about a week and a half ago. The other girl did not appear to be affected, which was why I assumed she was being a bully but she has been treated the same anyway. Really pleased to have finally got to the bottom of this!

[The Dogmother]

Glad that you discovered the cause Keep up the treatment until the mites are all gone - they are very tenacious!

[mrshalobaby]

How often do I need to redust the girls with red mite powder? And do I need to reapply the diatom to the inside of the on a regular basis? (It gets a good clean once a week...)

[The Dogmother]

I'd spray the eglu with Poultry Shield each week when you clean it, then dust with Diatom in the nooks when it is dry

 

It's not licensed for use on poultry in the UK, but my vet recommends Ivomec Eprinex - it's brilliant and a good preventative. It will kill the mites when they bite the hens. Regular dosing should keep you mite free.

 

Good information on it here http://www.pekinbantams.com/ivomec.asp

[Egluntyne]

Am glad you have found out what was causing the problem.