4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[dee6899]

Can anyone help.. Queenie, one of my black stars has lost all the feathers around her vent. Its not a moult and I have not seen any evidence of lice/mites. I have had my 6 girls since November and after a couple of rows over the first few days, they all seemed to have being living in harmony ever since. I have kept a eye out for bullying but not seen anyone picking on her. She had a small sore near her vent which I have been spraying with purple spray. That has cleared up now but yesterday I noticed she is now losing feathers under one of her wings and again there is a small wound which I have sprayed. Could it be boredom causing her or others to be pulling out feathers? They get let out into the small pen (the cube with 3m extension) in the morning, then at lunchtime I let them out into a larger fenced off pen.

[Minnie the Moocher]

It does sound like she's being picked on to me. Could it be at night?

 

They do like to peck at sore patches and bald patches.

 

Someone will be along soon with more ideas, I'm sure

[Egluntyne]

I think it probably is a moult. They do leave their knickers behind every now and then. If there is no sign of her being bullied, then she probably isn't.

 

A bit of extra protein in her diet may help.

[dee6899]

Hi Minnie the Moocher and Egluntine, many thanks for your replies. I am keeping a close eye on her and spraying her with anti-pek spray. She seems fine in herself so I shall just watch and wait and if things get worse then I shall seperate her for a while.

[quickcluck]

mine are the same!!! 6 bald bums, can't see and lice/mites, and no sign of pecking, but have sprayed them all with anti peck stuff anyway. They are all the same age so am wondering if they are all having a mini moult at the same time? They are continuing to lay like stars

[LJ's Chooks]

if it's any consolation, i have 7 chooks, and 5 of them now have bald bums. only two remain fully feathered so i will know soon as to whether the bumper bits are working or if they have figured out how to pull feathers with a bumper bit on. Only one of the two remaining feathered bums has a bumper bit, the other one "root" is the bottom of the pecking order so to speak, so we never suspected her of pecking, but i guess we'll find out soon.... may be she is growing in stature!

[sandyhas3chucks]

Me too.... moults patches .. red bits. I have sprayed with anti lice stuff, "just incase" as I undersatand some can be might hard to see., My baldest girl also had blood yesterday from a nice new feather. (they like the taste I think, so her "sleeping" barrier put back in, just to deter her friend snacking in the night!

[Dora]

Don't know if you want to have another look , but my neighbour also keeps chooks and one of their hens had lost her bum feathers , they took her to the vets in the end. The vet got some selotape and put it round the vent , when she took it off there were 'white lice' on it . She said the lice are quite difficult to see hey have been given some cream to put on and also suggested treating the other two hens because of them spreading.

Hope this might be useful if they don't improve.

[dee6899]

Hi Everyone,

It's such a relief to hear that other people have got the same problem. I was beginning to think I was doing something seriously wrong, being a novice chook keeper!! Queenie appears to be getting some feather back under her wing but her bum is still very bald... if nothing grows back soon I will have to knit her some woolly knickers or something to keep her warm, but she is a little trooper, still laying everyday! I am still spraying with anti-pek and have given all the girls a good worming..just in case. If nothing changes in the next month then I will give in and have a trip to the vets, not sure I'm brave enough to do the sellotape thing by myself!!

 

Good luck with all those other bald bums out there.

[Janty]

I have been giving mine salmon offcuts from the fishmongers during the winter to give them a bit of extra protein. I know that this can taint the eggs but as the vast majority of mine are not laying then this isn't a problem. Live meal worms are also a good source of protein.