feather plucking

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daisychain7

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Hello again, I'd be very grateful for some of your advice again please...
I noticed last week that one of my beautiful, glossy and perfectly feathered hens had pecked out quite a lot of the feathers at the base of her tail (at the end of her back, not underneath), I assume whilst sitting in her dust bath because that's where the feathers were! I was worried, I wasn't sure if she was doing it or if someone else was doing it to her, but as she looked healthy and was eating, drinking & laying as usual I hoped it would just stop. I decided not to put that anti-pecking spray on her because it is where her preen gland is, and I wouldn't want her to stop washing! I didn't spray her purple because no skin was showing.
A week later....I haven't seen any more big piles of feathers in the run and she looks ok - you can see a few fluffy feathers that should be covered up by larger feathers, but I thought the episode had been a one off. But yesterday I managed to catch her (she hasn't read the manual about being a friendly chicken). I was horrified to see that her back is almost bare - her wings cover it up so there is still no skin showing whilst her wings are down. Her skin looks fine, but bare. She doesn't have lice. There are no red mite in the house.
I hate not knowing why this is happening. I don't think it is any of the others pecking at her, they all seem quite happy.
She is still eating, drinking and laying normally, but I'm worried she'll be getting cold now! She is one of two hens who are determined not to roost - could it be she is being over-effiecient cleaning herself if someone poos on her?
Any advice will be gratefully received. Thank you.
 
Thank you for your reply Kittykat. My hens are only 30 weeks old so I thought they probably wouldn't moult this year (don't know where I got that from!) and my other hens aren't losing any feathers. It's just her back. (And she is still laying.) I don't know what a moulting chicken looks like yet as these are my first hens!
 
If she was moulting you would see new feathers emerging Daisychain7. However they are full of tasty blood and an easy target for other hens, so they often get eaten. She would be moulting at the base of her neck as well -lift the feathers to see if any new ones are coming through.

We have one with the same condition. Lost all her feathers but only a very few grew back (and they were eaten). No lice or mites yet she soil bathes a lot. We have sprayed with Frontline with no effect so haven't a clue. She will be cold in Winter and we may have to bring her into the house.
 
One of the suggested things that I've read about is that it might be a good idea to get her a saddle or a jumper so that area is covered and cannot be pecked. Saddles are relatively solid things which are used to prevent damage to a hen during mating, while jumpers are usually made from wool or fleece and are used on "rescue" hens which come out of battery cages without any feathers. Patters for the latter are readily available online and are easy to make, while saddles are a little bit more difficult, I imagine.
 
Here you go, courtesy of the internet :) http://media.kentonline.co.uk/filerepository/archive/images2/chicken%20KE%20300413%20BH1_l.jpg and http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01553/Woolly-chickens_1553738c.jpg
 
I'll do that tomorrow Marigold. Is it odd that it is just her though? Also, if anyone has any tips on how to 'powder' a chicken please let me know. I know people say it's easier leaving it until the chickens are roosting, but then it's getting dark and you can't see what you are doing!
Presumably I should give all the hens a powdering?
 
It's easier if one person holds the hen and the other person tackles the dusting. You need to run one hand over her back, so she crouches, and then the other hand under her tummy. Hold her legs in your fist with one hand, with your fingers divided between the legs and one finger in the middle to cushion them. Don't try picking her up with your hands over her wings or she will panic and scratch you. If you can hold on to her legs and support her weight in your arms, with the other arm over her wings, she will calm down.
Then either you, or the other person, can stretch out her wings, one at a time, and get the powder in under her armpits (well, you know what I mean!) and in round her neck. Be careful to keep it out of her eyes. Then turn her round, still hanging on to her legs, and have a good go at her tail area.
I would do this in daylight if possible, or else, if you catch her off the perch in darkness, then take her somewhere where you have light to work by. You can use a torch to see inside the coop, they wont do much more than murmur if you don't shine it straight at them. You can even hold her upside down to get at the underside of her body, she will just lie there wi her neck outstretched if you hold her by her legs and let her head hang down.
You could add some powder to the dustbath, just sprinkle it obver the top layer and leave them to work it in. Yes it would be good to do them all, as any kind of parasite is like nits in kids, they all get them in the end!
 
A head torch is very helpful for this kind of thing. It leaves your hands free, but lets you see to treat the girls while they're sleepy.
 
If possible, get one which isn't too bright. The head torch that I got given is bright enough to wake up the chickens quite quickly!
 
That's a good idea! If it was too bright I'd use some card with a hole in or paper to attenuate and/diffuse the beam. Or use a resistor or near flat batts etc.
 
Thank you for your advice. I think I might have worked it out - these 2 hens with the feather issue are the 2 that won't roost. My suspicion is that their skin is being irritated by the droppings the other hens do on them at night. So for the last week I have held the torch whilst my husband puts them on a perch. (They definitely stay there because there are 2 piles of droppings there in the morning.) I just wonder how long it is going to take them to work it out on their own, but hopefully their skin is a bit less itchy now.
 
Usually less than week, although by hens are apparently stubborn buggers as it took me weeks to train them out of it.
 
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