tadros Posted October 25, 2014 Share Posted October 25, 2014 One of my 2 hens has been pulling out the feathers in her belly and vent area...the skin is very red and there are some spots of blood. She has not laid for some time (for a while was laying thin broken eggs even though I gave her grit), and the woodshavings under where she sleeps is wet and pinkish, although her droppings look normal. She looks healthy otherwise and her comb is normal colour. I treated the coop for red mite in the summer, and having examined her I cant see any lice (we lost a chicken in the summer with similar symptoms but the lice were visible...got ivomectin from the vet but unfortunately was too late). I think she has lost weight as she is lighter than our other hen which I didnt notice before. Are lice always visible? Am planning to buy more ivomectin but wondered if anyone recognises the symptoms and would advise otherwise? Thanks so much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 Lice are visible, but could it be Northern Fowl Mite Tadros? Usually seen on cockerels around the vent and hackles, but hens will preen the scabs off I think? They are too small to be visible to the eye without magnification. We treat with Frontline spray (unlicensed for poultry) at the rate of 0.5mL per Kg bodyweight, but you will need your vet to prescribe it. I believe Ivermectin works but, by all reports I've read, not as well because repeat treatment is often necessary. Frontline is a once only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandychick Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 It might be a feather eating problem. It's a problem I had with one of my hens earlier this year and it took me a while to figure out what was going on. She then started pulling feathers from the other hens too. Once they start it's a habit that seems impossible to stop. I put a bumpa bit on Molly and it worked and all feathers returned I'm thinking that if it was lice, your other hen would certainly have them too. Is she definitely pulling out her own feathers, or could the other hen be the culprit? ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tadros Posted October 30, 2014 Author Share Posted October 30, 2014 Thank you both for your replies...I will research northern fowl mite this eve, Strangely when we lost a hen to mites(a pale brown kind visible when we examined her) in the summer, we didn't find any on the other two, even though they were all in together. The hen with the sore underneath is definitely "the boss" so its unlikely to be the other doing it, although I've noticed a few of her downy feathers in the coop too, being of a different colour. I've got them a special chicken tonic to add to their water in case shes pulling her feathers due to a vitamin deficiency. Does anyone know why the woodshavings are wet where shes roosted? Have never had this before. Have given them a bucket of soil mixed with diatomous earth to dust themselves in, &will get the ivomectin. Will let u know how things go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandychick Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 The wet wood shavings do suggest some watery poo. That could also explain the weight loss, why she is not laying and a nutritional deficiency Try and get a look at what her fresh poo looks like in the day. Link here to a brilliant but rather graphic guide to what is normal / abnormal and why (not good viewing If you're eating your tea ) http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=17568.0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tadros Posted October 31, 2014 Author Share Posted October 31, 2014 Thanks for the link sandychick-I'm hoping that the wateryness is not Clostridium perfringens as her poo can sometimes look like that, and I do sometimes feed them s"Ooops, word censored!"s such as old rice & stale bread(I will stop doing so now). I used to fill their water up from the tap on the water butt until I became concerned when my hens appeared less healthy. Tried to find out more but the searches bring up very academic articles on the subject. Do you know anything about this condition & how to treat it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
