Chicken bald back

[Sageandonion]

Luna, our light sussex hydrid, has a completely bald bottom - it's quite a sizeable bald patch - she looks like she has a monkey's bum bless her. It is under the vent. OH noticed it yesterday. She is fine in herself, bright comb etc and is still laying. I don't think the others are pecking her, although she looks oven ready the skin isn't sore and there's no sign of blood or injury. I'm spraying her with anti pecking spray just in case.

Could she have pulled out her own feathers and eaten them ? - there's no sign of them.

I can't see any sign of mites and the other 2 hens are fine and fully feathered.

Does anyone know what could cause this and what should I be doing to encourage regrowth and break the habit if she or the others are pulling the feathers out? If it's mites what powder should I put on her - we apply diatom to the hens and put it in the nest box and on the perches etc.

 

thank you.

[Henchanted]

Hi

 

you could be right, its happened to one of my girls when I puffed quite a lot on her by accident and I don't think its a coincidence. So I have calmed down a bit, mainly adding it to their dust bath and sprinkled around the eglu nooks and crannies.

Now I only do the hens one or two weekly by holding them by the feet and head down and that way a very light puff on the skirts and under the wings is all thats seems necessary.

Although DE is not chemical it works by drying insects out so its likely to do that to the hens skin I guess.

 

Honestly, its easy to take one step forward and two steps back sometimes with henkeeping

 

I have used calendula cream on her patch and it seems to be soothed but no feathers yet.

 

Onwards and upwards...?

[chickencam]

My Light Sussex spent her first year with a bald bum, but she feathered up beautifuly after her first full moult, it is not uncommon for them to lose their bottom feather or have them pulled out by coop mates. Hybrids often don't have a proper moult in their first year and because they are laying a lot they don't have the reserves to grow new feathers. You could try giving her a tonic in her water, and feeding some meal worms to boost her protein levels, this may help.

[Sageandonion]

Thank you both.

 

I now suspect she or the others have pulled them out. I saw Peckers pull one of Funky's feathers out today and eat it. So will get some meal worms. Is there any particular tonic I should try?

 

Chickencam - if you see this post, just wondering if you sprayed your chicken's rear end with anti pecking spray as a preventative just in case . Should I continue to do this until the feathers grow back?

[Penguin]

We have exactly the same problem with Fried. I don't think that she likes the comparison to a monkey, but there is a strong similarity ... she seems absolutely fine in herself, apart from laying softies, but I'm going to get some more oyster grit to help her out on that one. She hasn't been through a moult in the two years we have had her so I am crossing my fingers that when she does moult her bottom feathers will grow back again. Since she is top of the chook pile, I don't think that the others are pecking her.

[dottychicken]

Sorry to bump and old thread but 3 out of my 4 hens now have bald patches on their bums! I have seen Duchess the light Sussex peck the occasional feather out so I presume this might be the problem, as I can't see any mites or lice. What would be the best course of action for me to take?

 

Ella's bum a couple of days ago...

 

 

[dottychicken]

It's all good people, have found some excellent threads on this subject!

[MissPug+Chooks]

Can u share the threads? Im having the same problem!