Feathers pulled out

[mum of 4]

Hello everyone,
I am new to keeping chickens and have already found loads of useful info on this site thanks.
We have 4 POL - 2 sussex and 2 speckledies
One of the speckledies had a very mucky looking front over the weekend and when I manage to catch her (taming is a work in progress!!) I found that she had got hay from the nest box and some mucky looking poo stuck to her feathers, and more worryingly, in the middle of her breast was a bald patch!! The feathers have gone right down to 'the bit we eat' according to my 7yr old! It didn't look sore and the skin isn't broken.
She is eating well and getting braver exploring the garden but is making lots of cartoon style egg laying noises!
Any ideas what is going on??
Thanks

 

[foxy]

Hello Mum of 4 and welcome to the forum! 99 99

Are you sure she is not broody? Although it is not typical behaviour for a hybrid chicken, mother nature is still a strong instinct to overcome.

Is she fluffing up and sort of squealing at you from the nest? Does her breast area feel a bit hot...spending a rather long time in and examining the nest boxes? These are two clues a hen is contemplating broodiness.

 

[chrismahon]

Sounds like broody behaviour to me as well Mumof4. Doubt she will continue for long but you may have to spend time taking her out of her nest during the day and blocking the nest box(es) at night -plant pots work.

 

[Marigold]

Are they laying at all yet? If they are still POL and are hybrids, its very unlikely indeed that any of them have gone broody. Its uncommon for hybrids to go broody anyway, but this hormonal condition is brought on after a period of laying eggs, and in nature, collecting them into a clutch for incubation. if yours haven't laid yet I don't see how broodiness could be the explanation. However, POLs do explore the nestboxes before they start to actually lay eggs, and try sitting in them sometimes, so there shouldn't be long to wait. Other signs of oncoming lay are red combs (are yours red yet?) and whether they crouch and spread their wings if you place a hand on, or near their backs, (in expectation of mating)
Hay isn't very good to use in nestboxes - as you have found, its messy stuff and hard to poo pick if there is any poo in there. You could try woodshavings or Aubiose (shredded hemp stems) which are very comfortable and much more absorbent and easy to keep clean. I'm also wondering why there is any poo in the nestboxes - are the girls sleeping in there at night? You need to teach them to perch properly if this is so, as otherwise you will get dirty eggs when they start to lay. Try putting big plastic flowerpots in the nest boxes at teatime, after they would have laid if they were going to. Remove them next morning in case that turns out to be the magic day when they want to lay that lovely first egg. They may take the hint and perch all by themselves if you have blocked the boxes, but you will have to go down after they have roosted (quite late in June) and check to see what's happening. If they are on the floor and not on the perches, gently lift them up on to a perch and that will stimulate their perching reflex. It's likely they were reared in a shed with no perches so are unfamiliar with the idea but they will learn after a night or two and then your boxes will stay clean thereafter.
As for the bare feathers on your pullet, maybe this could be lice infestation - the easiest time to catch her and have a good look is when they have roosted, if she's not very tame yet. Hold her legs firmly to stop her scratching you and check carefully round her vent, under her wings, round her neck and where her feathers are thin. You are ,looking for tiny white eggs. If you find any, tell us about them! If you go to the Poultrykeeeper website (link at the bottom of this page) there will be some pictures if you use the Search box to get advice on mite problems. See http://poultrykeeper.com/external-problems/lice-on-chickens-and-poultry
Also, if your birds are now around 20 weeks old, you should worm them with Flubenvet - again, Poultrykeeper has all the answers.

 

[mum of 4]

Thanks for the advice. I will have a good look at her later when she has gone to bed! I'll let you know if I find anything. I wondered about broodiness but she isn't hogging the nest box. She is making lots of noise especially when I go in the run and she sits down with her feathers fluffed at every opportunity - even when eating! However she is happy to wander around the garden with the others.
All four are all sort of laying! We have had a number of 'proper' eggs, some soft shelled eggs, 3 double yolkers and 1 triple! Not sure who is responsible for what though! The noisy hen (Pepsi) and one of the Sussex (Isa) both squat well now. The other 2 are really wary. In fact that is the only way to tell the specaldies apart (named Pepsi and Coke cos we can't tell them apart - names courtesy of my 7yr old!)
I had to lift them in to the house the first couple of nights but now they take themselves to bed but I think one or 2 do end up in the nest box part of the house so I'll try a flower pot. I have abiose on the floor of the run (it is on an old concrete shed base) so might try some of that in the nest boxes as well. It has been really easy to poo pick in the run.
Regarding the worming are the pellets with the worming stuff already in them a good choice for a few hens? I think it was Marriages that I saw in the farm suppliers.
Thanks

 

[Marigold]

If you get the ready mixed pellets you will have a lot left over, which may be out of date by the next time you need to use them. For 4 pullets its very easy to mix your own and then you will have the correct amount, with no waste.
Buy a pot of 1% Flubenvet. (I use Medicanimal but there are lots of sites online,) which will do 4 hens 5 times, so is not expensive. Weigh out 5 kilos of their usual pellets and put about 0.5 kilo into a large bowl. Mix these with enough vegetable oil to coat them lightly, to help the powder stick to them. Wearing protectuve gloves, add 2.5 of the scoop which comes with the Flubenvet powder, and mix it very thoroughly. Gradually add the rest of the weighed pellets, in batches, mixing well as you go. Empty the pullets' feeder of untreated pellets and refill with treated. Give nothing else at all to eat for the 7 days of treatment, to ensure they eat enough pellets for thorough treatment - harden your heart, no treats or free ranging. Then do them again in Nov- Dec. and you won't ever have a significant worm problem.
I think its unlikely you have a lice problem either, it sounds to me as if your girls are just settling into lay quite normally and should soon be producing normal eggs, no more triple yolkers (ouch!)

 

[mum of 4]

Hi everyone,
thanks for all the advice, things seem to be settling down a bit now. I couldn't find any evidence of lice on any of them (checking while they are in the houseis much easier!) They are all laying fairly regularly now and the cartoon clucking is getting less! There doesn't seem to be any more feathers pulled out although those that are left are pretty sad and tatty on her front. I assume the feathers will regrow on the bald spot??
loving having them running round the garden now they are braver and behaving more naturally. They are doing a great job in gettting the moss out of the lawn too!!!!

 

[BabyBantam]

They are doing a great job in getting the moss out of the lawn too!!!!

Careful there, they will go through the lawn and into Australia if you're not careful. :lol: