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Bald Bum - Help Needed Again

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Hi all

 

I posted a while ago saying one of my ladies had a bald bum. Someone suggested one of the other two was pecking and eating her feathers her at night (as no fighting takes place, no feathers found, no mites to be seen). Not sure what I could do about that so I kept an eye on her for a week but then another girl's bum got baldy! Not as bad but definately patchy.

 

Just one of the three still has her fluffy knickers in tact now...

 

So I saw another post which said if they sleep in the nesting box which is full of hay, the lack of ventilation to their under sides can cause baldness. Since then I've blocked them from the nesting box at night.

 

That was 10 days ago and they're no better. Hilda's rear end looks very red and sore... Peggy's is patchy and pink and Doris is just fine.

 

What should I do? Any ideas? They're all eating and drinking and free ranging happily - no signs of any upset, except mine!

 

Help :(

xxx

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I'm sorry to hear that the bald bums are spreading!

 

I wouldn't use hay - I think there's something in it that can cause respiratory infections in chickens. Some people do use straw but some chooks do eat this, which can cause crop binding.

 

Aubiose and hemcore seem to be the nesting materials of choice on this site!

 

Red mite are incredibly hard to detect - they don't live on the chickens but just come out of hiding places at night to feed on the chooks. For this reason I would treat them all as if they had redmite, regardless of whether you can see any creepy crawlies or not.

 

The other likelihood is that the one with the feathered bum is the one doing the pecking - and you could fit a bumper bit to stop her pulling the feathers off her pals!

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Ah right - I had it in my mind that mites could be seen. Super, I'll buy some stuff. Any ideas if you can buy that kind of thing at Pets At Home? I see they now sell Layers Pellets etc...

 

The girls love hay - we used to put the odd block in the garden for them to play with and use shredded paper in the nesting box but ran out so swapped. I'll clean it out and go back to paper.

 

Hmmm... I wonder if Doris is pecking. A beak bumper sounds so harsh :shock:

 

Thanks for the help! xxx

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My local Pets at Home do Barrier red mite powder but in truth I don't know how effective that is.

 

You can get diatomaceous earth from the Omlet shop which is used to dust chooks and their runs. It works by lacerating the mites so that they die. It won't kill eggs from lice etc so you'll need to do it again shortly to kill the newly hatched little beasties.

 

Some people also seem to have good results with a spray containing avermectin. It is sprayed onto the hen's skin and goes into their blood stream, so that when the lice or mites then bite the hen, they die. This method is very effective but I think there's an egg withdrawal period involved.

 

I wouldn't fit a bumper bit or make the bossy girl have some time out (it tends to push them down the pecking order) unless you were certain she was responsible for being a bully.

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I've just fitted a bumper bit to Ola today. She has always been a feisty madam (good for her) but she is the only one wearing knickers and I have spotted her having a surreptitious go at the others, so she has had to learn the hard way.

 

I shall be fitting one to Luna when I blend her into the flock.

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Oh dear - bless Ola!

 

Our lady who has her knickers in tact is the lowest of the pecking order - she's a little deaf and blind (or just incredibly stupid) and is often left behind by the other 2. Perhaps she's getting her own back at night.

 

Ok, I am off to look on this site for treatments for lice and anti-peck spray. Wish me luck. Thanks chicken folk. xxx

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hi,

 

bald bums are a very common problem and once bald are hard to get back to normal again.

 

things to look for are,

 

* red mites, these are visable. remove the perches and have a good look in all the cracks and corner areas for red bugs. they are tiny but breed very quickly and the whole area can soon be smothered with them. they wont be on the bird unless its a severe infestation. they live on the housing and feed on the hens over night. if so the house needs blasting with cleaner and covering with diatom earth

 

* lice, these are easy to see at the base of the feathers and will be crawling about. if so lice powder them.

 

* pecking, this could be happening at night by a hen sitting under the perches and feasting on the munchy bum feathers. they taste good to hens and once the hen realises it its hard to stop them doimng it. normally the hen with the fluffiest bum is the culprit. if so seperate the suspect and spray the wounded hens with a product sold in pet shops to stop horses eating their rugs. it tastes foul and soon stops the hen doing it.

 

* heavy laying, hens laying lots of eggs can get bald bums from the goo which comes out with the egg getting them wet and causing the feathers to fall out. not reallymuch you can do for that one.

 

* upset tummys. a hen with the squits will get dirty and will pull out feathers trying to get clean. if so stop feeding fresh food and stict to layers and corn and worm your hens.

 

* roosting on floor, a hen roosting on the floor will loose bum feathers from the rising damp. add extra space or perches to avoid this.

 

for all hens with bald bums adding a suplement like poultry spice into their layers pellets and also apple cider vinigar to the water for one week a month at 25% will help give them strength to grow new feathers. if the bum is red and sore a good covering of sudocrem will help sooth the skin. if you have trouble catching hens do it in the evening once they have roosted as they are then easy to pick up.

 

hope that helps !

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Oh that's fab thanks so much!

 

I got some of that mite powder you mentioned, I will spray out the cube tonight and lay some powder. We've changed the nesting box hay for shredded paper again so hopefully this will help. And we've started blocking the nesting box off at night which should help.

 

I also bought some anti-peck which I'll apply tomorrow after a night of sudocreme soothing!

 

Hopefully this should sort it all out... we'll see in a week or so. Omlet sent me some garlic powder in error too so I'll see how that works and try and give them a bit of a tonic.

 

We have no visible lice or upset tummies... I suspect the one with the knickers in tact is eating them as she's a bit batty. She's also lost weight which may be because she's filling up on feathers not pellets! We'll see...

 

Thanks for all the help chicky friends. x

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hi,

 

your very welcome. unfortunately i learnt the hard way from being in your situation. prevention is always better than cure so making sure your hens have plenty of room to roost and plenty of area outside will help keep them healthy as will basic things like worming them regually and giving a good layers pellet with poultry spice in etc. keeping them clean also is a huge health benefit. i have a large flock and know know thew importance of maintaining health.

 

you need to rule out red mites as this is important. look at your perches in the cracks and dark areas, underneath perches and basically anywhere a bug can hide. take them out if they are removable and have a good look. you can also run your finger down the cracks and if your finger is stained red its mites.

mites are bright red in colour and tiny and will be in the immediate area where your hens sleep. it is a very good idea to keep a look out for them every time you clean. when you have lots they will look like red sugar. they will also make you itch!

if you have these message me back. if you cant see anything then you most likely dont have them. when we got them they were crawling all over the perches. theres no way to 100% stop yourself getting mites so checking and dealing with it pronto is all you can do. a good sprinkling of diatom earth helps once you have gutted the house if you do have them. they turn up this time of year.

 

 

i can help you if you do have them but hopefully you dont, good luck with your girls! :P

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Thanks again! Well Saturday we stripped the Cube down. Well I say we... I am preggers so my husband did it as I am banned from touching their droppings or anything containing mites (only by him I add!).

 

We didn't see any red bits or traces of bugs at all. We scrubbed and disinfected it all. Laid down powder over and under the roosting bars and in the nesting box. We then put paper over that, more powder, shredded paper with powder mixed in etc... We got each chook and powdered them all up! I will repeat next weekend too. Next day we sprayed them with Anti-Peck and gave them some garlic powder in their food. Didn't think to get spice but will do next time I am out.

 

They're eating and drinking well and one of the baldies is growing backa bit (was before all this hoopla) so hopefully it was just pecking - but it's good to know they're all clean and treated anyway.

 

Thanks so much for your help. xxx :wink:

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hiya,

 

ok i think its safe to say you dont have red mite. which is great news. most likely its pecking then. if it is pecking it would help to let them out of their cube for a few hours a day if you can. if your garden isnt secure then poultry netting may work 4 u. pecking is normally associated with boredom or over crowding. letting them have a roam about will give them something to think about. also a peck block would help as would pet safe mirrors or cd's on string. hung up veg also works. you could try scattering their feed instead of putting it in a feeder or giving them mash instead of layers as it takes longer to eat. good luck with your bump! :wink:

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We have 3 of them in a cube and run extension so it's not crowded. They get approx 3 hours a day out Mon-Fri and usually at least 6-7 hours Sat-Sun. I regularly hang treats for them (lettuce, cabbage, corn etc) but will try and find more to keep them entertained! I think it's happening at night but no way to know without a spy cam!

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hiya, sounds like they shouldnt be bored then realy. forgot to ask have you ruled lice out yet? if you havent pick them up and part their feathers in random places and look where the feathers start and see if you can see any lice. they are not tiny. they are a browny yellow colour and will be around the base of the feathers in clumps and up the spine of the feather. the are tick-tak shape.

if you have a good look at them all and cant see anything then im sure it must be pecking. ive found lice are worse under the wings and chest area and bottom area. if they are scatty get somewhere solid to lay them on and cover it with a towel or something and hold their wings tight to their body then turn them over and hold them down firmly but not to hard with one hand on their body. the powder is good for using regually so if your birds do pick them up they dont spread so fast and hopefully may even totally prevent them.

you probably wont catch them pecking each other or themselves as it does happen overnight more often than not unless you found a way to film them :lol::P

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i'vce got a couple of chucks that seem to have balding probs. Mrs Beanslost the feathers on her bum almost overnight a couple of months ago, then another lost feathers around her bum. Mrs Beans is top of the pecking order, not seen anyone trying to peck her, and had a good nose for mites and found nothing, but dusted accordingly. Have given coop an good clean and dust twice in last 3 months. Now she seems to be loosing feathers around her legs and back. When you look closely you can see some growing back, and for a while I thought she was just moulting - esp when the second chuck started to go the same way. But she's been like this for so long now! And no real imporvement to her bum! She can't get in the nest box at night, so cant be rubbing on hemcore. As for the other chuck, sh'e patchy, but not as bad. No signs of pecking or soarness on either bum. They just look ready for the oven! Any ideas? Are they just moulting? Does it last this long? :(:?:(

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Two of our three chickens have the oven ready look on their underside and the third is fine. It is similar to another post here in the fact that there are no feathers around. We often have two eggs per day instead of the normal three but otherwise all seems normal.

 

We have stopped them roaming around the garden and purchased the run extension as I got a little precious about some of my plants! Otherwise, nothing has changed but they look terrible. Like the others, I don't think it is red mite as I cannot find any evidence. Any other suggestions would be gratefully received!

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Two bald bottome and one fully feathered very much suggests that the feathered girl is pecking and eating the feathers of the other two. Once they get a taste for it, it is tricky to cure.

 

I'd put a bumper bit on her asap.

 

You could try Anti Pek or Nibble deterrent spray too.

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Hi

 

We too have had terrible problems with bald bums. :( So much so we took them to Retford Poultry vets for their vet to give all our six a once over. She said it was unlikely to be redmite and did a full set of tests for all kinds of things - all came back negative.

 

She said she thought it was due to pecking and hens crouching to avoid being pecked and if they sat on chicken pooh it burned the skin as it was very acidic. We have all ours in poutry saddles to prevent back pecking but still have the problem with bottoms with 3 out of the 6. She gave us some cream - Dead Sea minerals based and we applied daily for 2 weeks - it helped but now we have stopped 2 of the bottoms are looking very sore again. We are using aloe vera gel for the moment.

 

Libby (the vet) was very against bumper bits (some of ours had them on) as she said if they break the sternum (spelling?) they are considered cruel. She removed ours. She did however file the top beak to make it blunt. It has prevented any blood letting but not feather pulling.

 

As many others have said - ours are happy and she said were healthy apart from the baldness - we also have a couple with bald chests.

 

I don't knwo whether any of this is helpful but at least you know you are not alone!

 

Lindi

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Lindi - Thanks for that. We also have a chest starting to look a little sparce. Wonder if The Pecker is responsibe for that too. Hmmm.

 

I haven't put beak bumper thingies on them as I don't like the look of it and would worry. I'm using anti-peck for the next couple of weeks and will see how that goes and if no different I don't know what we'll do!

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I am also wondering about moving the feathered chicken out for a while to see if things improve.

 

 

Lots of people use this method of removing the bully from the flock. She loses superiority as time goes on, and usually comes back into the group at a lower level. Might help with the pecking.

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