moulting and depluming mite

[chickenfan]

A lot of my birds are moulting dramatically, poor things. At this time of year I seem to get the odd bird with depluming mite as well. Does anyone know where this comes from and what causes it?

 

[chrismahon]

As far as I know Chickenfan, depluming mites eat into the feather quills at the base to get to the blood inside and as a result the feathers drop out. They probably fall from the sky off wild birds like most other things -red mite, Northern Fowl mite and lice.

A lot of ours are moulting heavily as well. Interestingly the Marans are moulting very slowly, which is evident by the new feathers amongst the sun bleached old ones, and they are still laying as a result. The TNN's moulted heavily and started laying again as soon as all the new feathers had broken through, long before they were fully grown.

 

[dinosaw]

They always say the best layers moult heavily and then come straight back into lay, I don't know though if this is just an assumption that the less laying days lost to moulting=more laying days=more eggs or whether they have actually done studies on it. My exbatts have never quite fully refeathered but they have never stopped laying either so it will be interesting to see if they have a proper moult or not this year, at the moment no sign of it.

 

[chickenfan]

Interesting your Marans are moulting slowly Chris. My copper black marans are moulting like nothing I've ever seen before. They were in lay last week, now one is looking almost naked and the house is deep in black feathers. She is a good layer, but it must be terrible for her moulting so fast. I wonder if the depluming mite perhaps go with the damp autumn weather, or the old and falling leaves making wild birds more prone. However, I've never noticed a wild bird with this problem.

Thank you for coming back on the pen roof Dinosaw. I don't think I can afford a marvellous-sounding pitched roof as you have. Someone has suggested high tensile wire for the flat netting roof of my pens, which are 5m x 5m, 10m x 7m and 10m x 9m. This will at least ensure cockerels can't jump out and I hope it will be OK in heavy snow, which we are liable to get here. It would be nice to keep them dry too in some of the pen. I think tarpaulin that Marigold uses would blow away, but I might try small sections.

 

[dinosaw]

Yes at those spans you would have to go up to 4 inch timber Chickenfan and it soon adds up, my new ones cost about £450 a piece and that was all materials which is still a big saving of course. As long as your gaps are wide enough you should be ok with regards to snow, I have a 8m x 3m run with a mesh roof that was in situ when I moved in, according to the neighbours the roof collapsed the first time it snowed because the mesh is 1/2" x 1/2" so I have had to shore it up with vertical timbers. The difficult thing with tarps and the like on flat roofs is that they inevitably sag and gather rain water in the middle which becomes very heavy, when you then go to move it you create an absolute deluge. I would imagine you would be better making up a couple of smaller shelters for you birds within the pen for them to keep dry, it will be a lot easier thats for sure.

 

[chickenfan]

Thank you very much for all the tips and advice, Dinosaw. Yes, it will be easier to put a shelter within the pen. I have found the Flyte so Fancy small field shelter excellent for my birds. It protects them from the wind as well as rain and has a perch so that they can be off the ground too.