SueChick Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 I haven't been on the forum for ages due to study commitments for my degree and the fact that I could spend hours and hours on end on here instead of studying!!! Anyway, I thought I would let you know that we have finally beaten the bald chicken problem. After trying everything under the sun for our bald belly and sides chicken including purple spray, anti pecking spray (different varieties), anti boredom pecking blocks and finally bumper bits....it turns out that our lady was allergic to hemcore. I think I told everyone on here that the vet suggested it could be an allergy and that I was going to try Easibed as an alternative run covering but I haven't told you the outcome. It took a while to make any difference really because her general health was so low after all of the re-growth then loss and re-growth and loss pattern that she had got herself into. I had to really boost her health by adding metatone (human vitamin supplement) into their drinking water and a tablespoon of cod liver oil into their food every day and by using nappy rash cream to calm her sore bits down. Eventually though her general health improved and as the cause of her irritation was gone (hemcore) she regrew all of her feathers, put on loads of weight and now looks really plump, beautiful and healthy. The easi bed is even a bit cheaper than the hemcore. I still got it from the equestrian supplier where I used to get the hemcore from - it is finally shredded wood chippings. Apparently the vet said that that the hemcore plant can cause irritations as we experienced. Anyway, just an update on our success as it is so lovely to have her back to health now. I hope that this helps anyone else out there with the same balding chicks (especially under their bellies and down their sides). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Am glad you have sorted the problem out. There have been other reports about this on the forum, so it is one definitely to be borne in mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esta Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 thats great news Im very glad she is better esta x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancing cloud Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Glad she's sorted out and doing so well I've never used hemcore and will bear this in mind, thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LJ's Chooks Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 This is really interesting... we were using hemcore, and have had to switch to aubiose cos our supplier switched due to the price/availabiliy of hemcore. 5 of our girls now have bald bums.... could this be that the aubiose is irritating them or putting a smell on the girls that the others are pulling?? 6 of our girls have bumper bits, but they can still tug the soft stuff?? only 2 of our girls have bum feathers intact - they are not laying at the moment, and one has a few missing, but her laying is irratic... all the hybrids who are laying have no bum feathers.... interesting??? is it likely to be the aubiose im now curious if anyone else has seen this, i've sprayed with Xeno 200 2 weeks ago when we first noticed it (without thinking it could be the nest box material) so it should not be lice or worms as this should cover them. Can anyone else offer experience or thoughts on this one... Can i use shredded paper as an alternative or may this also cause problems??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelley Cockell Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 I was just going to post about Hazel who has had baldness that started on the inside of her legs and gradually met across belly. I thought that she was moulting but three months on and it hasn't grown back. We used easibed when we coudl get it, woodshavings if we couldn't. Last time I got auboise. So maybe this has been the problem. There are no sign of mites etc and only one other hen has this problem but not to the extent that Hazel does. We only use this bedding in the coup. Their run has bark in, but they free range in the garden half the time. I will stick with auboise for a while and see if it makes any difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterhas5chucks Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 we use hemcore and one of our girls has now got a bald bottom and belly. i saw one of the other girls eating her feathers but after anti peck spray it stopped, but shes still losing feathers what would be the difference in appearance between moutling and allergys? can i ask why the vet thought it was an allergy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueChick Posted February 7, 2009 Author Share Posted February 7, 2009 So sorry for long delay.....university very frantic.... We knew it wasn't pecking because the other chicken had a bumper bit on and she was still bald. Also, the skin was so red and scaly. When we used the nappy rash cream it healed up very quickly though and we gave her cod liver oil in her food and vitamins. She is the picture of health now though (touch wood) and I will never use anything other than Easibed in the run now and shredded paper in the roosting box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
