Is your dog's unusual barking a secret code for something mysterious?

[Stevie Adams]

Can anybody give me some advice - a friend of mine has had chickens for about a month, so I'm guessing they're about 20 weeks old. He has noticed one of the girls (in the below picture) is missing quite a few feathers. He hasn't noticed any fighting, and there doesn't appear to be any blood.

 

I did think it looked quite large so could be an egg there, but then I think the missing feathers may make it look bigger in comparison to the other girls. Apparently she's running round and eating and seems quite healthy, so I'm guessing there's nothing to worry about.

 

I'm only a novice myself, so I was hoping you could give me your thoughts as to what could be the problem, if there is one, and what he can do to remedy this.

 

[Duncan08]

I don't really know, but my Bluebell has an unsightly baldy patch at the base of her tail. She was picked on at POL and the feathers have never really recovered properly.

She is fine though and has no other problems and is our top layer.

The picture doesn't look as though there is any aggressive feather pecking as the skin looks clear, she is a bit young to think she is broody and pulling them herself, but it is quite common for the girls to pluck their own feathers.

You could try some extra mealworms or other protein, just in case.

 

Another cause I have had for missing feathers are rubbing, I have two girls at the moment with bald throats. I thought at first it was the Go feeder being vertical in the new WIR, I have now found that it is them sticking their heads through the weldmesh of the WIR to eat the emerging bulbs on the other side

Not sure how this girl would have managed to rub them off her bum though.

 

A good check over for mites would be worthwhile, it isn't a common spot for them, but some sort of irritation could have caused her to pull them out herself.

 

Hopefully you will get some other suggestions soon.

[Miggy]

I dont think it is anything to worry about unless she shows any other signs of being unwell. We went through the same thing when we first got our hens. The Plymouth rock Hybrid came with a bald patch in the same place and still has it 2 years later.

 

Miggy

[Olly]

That just looks like bog-standard feather plucking to me - it looks horrid, but as long as there's no redness or irritation or bleeding, it doesn't seem to bother them.

[SueChick]

A brilliant new vet told me the answer to this because both my girls have bellies like this at the moment - its called a brood pouch and is normal - its a hormone controlled feather loss and it's so the chooks can receive the signals from the eggs they are laying on/hatching to tell them when it's time to turn them over! Very clever. Apparently it's common for this time of year because it's spring and baby chick time!

 

Apparently the way to tell its the brood pouch and not feather pulling or lice/mites is that it's a perfect circle and smooth skin with no sign of new feathers trying to come through.

 

Hope this helps!