Baldy chicken

[Mrs Brewster]

Wondered if anyone can help, I have had my hybrid just 12 months, about 6 months after I got her she started to go through her moult.

She still has yet to come out of it, she eats, drinks, occasionally lays. In herself she's fine, I have tried dried cat food to boost the protein levels, as a couple of them have bald spots, but nothing.

She doesn't have mites. I have attached pictures to show how she looks.

Any help is gratefully received.

 

[Marigold]

Oh dear, poor girl.
When you got her (them) were they the normal POL age, or did you rehome some older ones?
If she arrived at about 6 months old, it would be very unusual for a pullet, especially a hybrid, to moult at about a year old. Usually they wait until 18 months. I have one who is now over three years old and has never moulted.

 

[Mrs Brewster]

I got her pol. All my hybrids have done similar went into moult and still have add bald patches. She is the worse but they all lay, so I'm stumped, feel sorry for especially when it's cold.

She was about 3 months old when I got her.

Thanks

 

[Marigold]

Have you had a chance to ask the breeder about this?
If they've all got these symptoms to some extent, it would seem that it's either genetic or perhaps the result of poor early care.
If you had them at 3 months, presumably they went through a normal growers moult St around 12-16 weeks? Did they feather up OK at that stage?
Do you have any other chickens, maybe a different age and from another source, and if so, are they affected?
I'm sorry I have no ideas why this should be, just trying to think around the problem!

 

[chickenfan]

Is it possible the other birds could be pecking her? I wonder if a multi-mineral could help?

 

[chrismahon]

We had a bird in similar condition and it was caused by mice eating the feathers at night. The feathers certainly look as though something is eating them -it doesn't look like moulting to me.

 

[Icemaiden]

That looks like really bad feather pecking to me; it looks really sore. Watch your hens for a while to see if you can catch them at it, then consider bumpa beak bits.
My girls occasionally feather peck if they're bored; if they don't get let out to free range, I try to hang up some veg from a string for them to peck at, to keep them entertained. That seems to help. Once feather pecking has become an ingrained habit though, you'll struggle to break it.

Here's hoping that Chris is right about the mice; it's be an easier problem to solve.

 

[Mrs Brewster]

Thanks for the advise, but I have a few birds in the similar situation, she is just the worse one.

A few have the same patches, on the back and around the vent. Thinking of speaking to my vet and see what he suggests.

Not sure what else to do.

 

[Marigold]

Have you tried Ivermectin? Maybe your vet might suggest this. You would need his advice as you would have to treat all the birds simultaneously if, as I suspect, this is a parasitic infestation of some kind. If so, you would need a diagnosis perhaps from a test, to determine how you should also treat the environment.

 

[Mrs Brewster]

Update. It would seem the hybrids are the only ones effected by strange moult.

I have 2 other birds going the same way and this one and she is getting worse. There is a slight mite problem but not heavy enough that would justify this moult. They just have mites at the base of the feathers, under the wings.

I have just wormed them, and now they seem to have stopped laying. Had 1/2 eggs a day this last week.

Thinking of taking the effect birds to the vets, cause I'm at a complete lost.

 

[chickenfan]

It couldn't be a depluming mite could it, Mrs Brewster? Or could they be being pecked by other birds? I think it would be worth trying the Ivermectin (available from Chickenvet) as this treats all types of mites, including the depluming one.

 

[Mrs Brewster]

Looking at pictures, it looks like de pluming mite could be possible....does this burrow at the base of the feathers and is a light browny colour?? That is what's on the birds at the mo.

Will powder be effective or is ivermectin better??