Clur Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 We have two chickens and one, Florrie has an extremely raggedly undercarriage and looks very threadbare. They all (we had three girls at the time) went through a moult late last year/early this year and Dilys is in fine feather now, but Florrie looks awful in comparison. She's also quite red and warm. She's absolutely fine in every other aspect, bright-eyed, active, eating, drinking and laying so I'm not unduly worried - just wondered if this is still down to the moult or if it could be something else? There's no evidence of lice or mites. They have auboise/hemcore in their nesting box and bark in their run and free-range for about 2-4 hours a day. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 There seem to be a lot of hens with scruffy underwear at the moment. There has been talk and an article in Practical Poultry I think, about overheating in the roosting area at night being the cause of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 Crawly critters would have been my first guess, but you've checked for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clur Posted May 7, 2009 Author Share Posted May 7, 2009 There seem to be a lot of hens with scruffy underwear at the moment. There has been talk and an article in Practical Poultry I think, about overheating in the roosting area at night being the cause of this. That's interesting - she insists on sleeping in the nest box too, so wonder if that's not helping. Definitely no creepy crawlies Claret, been over her with a fine tooth comb (metaphorically speaking!). Also, Dilys, the other hen is absolutely fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 There is also anecdotal evidence that some hens are allergic to Aubiose, so maybe the sleeping in the nestbox is the cause. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...