What is happening to my chickens

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dardamcc

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Hi, I am new here, so bear with me with my long, drawn out question. I have 12 chickens, mainly kept for eggs and for me (I am disabled and I enjoy caring for them). Yesterday when I went to gather eggs, there was a chicken on the nest (please see attachment) and on her back, her feathers are completely gone. I became very worried that something was getting to them during the day. They are all in an enclosed fence, and locked up in their house at night. I went out around 11am today to just kind of get a good look at them all, and noticed about five other hens with similar issues in the same area. None were quite as severe as the one I saw yesterday, but now I am extremely concerned for all of them. Could there be a health issue going with them or do you all believe that some animal is harming them?

Thank you for your thoughts.
 

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Hello dardamcc and welcome to the forum.

Do you have any cockerels amongst your chickens?, my first thought is that this type of feather loss is consistent with overtreading by a male. If not then the next most likely cause is feather pecking by other chickens. What type of space do you keep the birds in?.
 
The pen itself is 30X50 and the house is 5X8. I haven't noticed any pecking by other chickens, but I won't say it's not happening. Not to sound dumb (which I am), but what is a cockerel? I do have two roosters, but I haven't noticed there being any real issues among any of them. It just really struck me as odd that all these hens have this issue in the same area, but this hen has me worried the most.

BTW dinosaw,, I really appreciate the welcome and your response.
 
Hi dardamcc, and welcome from me, too. I guess you're from the USA? Over here in the U.K, we usually call a rooster a cockerel, just another example of language differences across the pond.
I think Dinosaw is probably right about cockerel damage, especially as one of your hens seems to be worse affected than the others. Often a rooster will have a favourite hen and will tread her more than the others.
At least it doesn't look as if blood has been shed yet, but as the damage looks quite severe, it won't be long before things get worse and their backs become very sore. IN your photo it looks as if the hen has been scratched by the rooster, in the place where his claws had gone. If they were mine I would separate the roosters from the hens for several weeks until their feathers had re-grown. Then you might consider whether you actually need two roosters, if indeed any at all, as the problem will keep on happening after they are re-introduced to the flock. I wonder if one rooster is more active than the other one, or whether both are treading the hens vigorously?
If you do decide to keep a mixed flock, you will at least need to restrict access to the hens by the roosters, and maybe get some poultry saddles for the hens to wear over their backs. These are OK to use once the feathers have grown back, but not whikst the new feathers are recovering as the hens will find them painful and irritating to wear whilst the feathers are in pin and just coming through.
 
From what you say I'm pretty sure that it is damage from the roosters overtreading, to be honest with you one rooster to 10 hens would be better and easier on the hens if you can bring yourself to part with one your boys. I agree with Marigold that you need to separate them for a while and get some chicken saddles.

Here is an article about saddles

https://poultrykeeper.com/keeping-chickens-faq/poultry-saddles/


I also did a quick google and these people sell them over there in the states.

http://www.louisescountrycloset.com/hen-saddles/
 
Marigold said:
Hi dardamcc, and welcome from me, too. I guess you're from the USA? Over here in the U.K, we usually call a rooster a cockerel, just another example of language differences across the pond.
I think Dinosaw is probably right about cockerel damage, especially as one of your hens seems to be worse affected than the others. Often a rooster will have a favourite hen and will tread her more than the others.
At least it doesn't look as if blood has been shed yet, but as the damage looks quite severe, it won't be long before things get worse and their backs become very sore. IN your photo it looks as if the hen has been scratched by the rooster, in the place where his claws had gone. If they were mine I would separate the roosters from the hens for several weeks until their feathers had re-grown. Then you might consider whether you actually need two roosters, if indeed any at all, as the problem will keep on happening after they are re-introduced to the flock. I wonder if one rooster is more active than the other one, or whether both are treading the hens vigorously?
If you do decide to keep a mixed flock, you will at least need to restrict access to the hens by the roosters, and maybe get some poultry saddles for the hens to wear over their backs. These are OK to use once the feathers have grown back, but not whikst the new feathers are recovering as the hens will find them painful and irritating to wear whilst the feathers are in pin and just coming through.
Click to expand...


Marigold - all that makes perfect sense to me. I wondered if this was rooster related and you have now confirmed that for me, thank you. I wasn't expecting to have two roosters; I got them all as chicks and was told I would only have one but somehow ended up with two. I suspect I know which one is doing the damage, but not being familiar enough with chickens, I didn't want to believe he was doing the damage. I would have no problem getting rid of him whatsoever because I would rather keep my hens healthy and happy. I have had many chickens to include a beautiful Dominicker rooster that never gave me any problems whatsoever.

Yes, I am from the US, and this site was the best one I could find that could help me. Thank you so much for your comments!
 
dinosaw said:
From what you say I'm pretty sure that it is damage from the roosters overtreading, to be honest with you one rooster to 10 hens would be better and easier on the hens if you can bring yourself to part with one your boys. I agree with Marigold that you need to separate them for a while and get some chicken saddles.

Here is an article about saddles

https://poultrykeeper.com/keeping-chickens-faq/poultry-saddles/


I also did a quick google and these people sell them over there in the states.

http://www.louisescountrycloset.com/hen-saddles/
Click to expand...

Dinosaw- Thank you for these links; I appreciate you doing that for me! I printed the articles out! I am going to try and get rid of one of these roosters. It wouldn't bother me to get rid of both, but I don't know if I should. I am afraid the hens will lose their protection if something tries to get to them. I need to figure out which one is the dominant one. Should I get rid of that one?
 
Dardamcc- I'm glad you found the links helpful it was my pleasure. As far as roosters go they don't so much offer protection to their hens as much as give them a chance of getting away while they sacrifice themselves fighting whatever is attacking, of course this is only really any value if they have somewhere to get away to like trees to fly into or deep undergrowth to hide in, if yours are in a pen then it will make no difference, a fox or whatever would kill the rooster and then chase down the hens once he's finished so if you aren't too bothered then it would be fine to get rid of both of them. The only exception I would make to this would be if you have trouble with hawks and the like as roosters are very good at warning of aerial predators. Personally I quite like them but they can be a real pain at this time of the year, I've had a couple of them attacking me recently which wasn't very sensible of them. If you are going to get rid of only one, get rid of the one you like the least would be my advice.
 
If you are not strongly attached to your roosters (or even if you are) I would recommend you to get rid of both of them. If you keep even one of them, you must separate him from his hens for quite some weeks until they get feathered up, and only then could you fit them with saddles. This will be stressful for him, but the present arrangement is a real welfare issue for the hens, so it will have to be done. If you keep both roosters they will probably fight if confined together, (you're lucky they're not fighting already) and in any case, neither of them will be able to give the hens any protection whilst penned separately. You would need to provide a separate coop or coops for them and build an enclosure, besides buying 10 hen saddles, and all this will be quite expensive and not permanently effective. It would be better to spend money on making their run more secure so you don't have to worry about predators, perhaps by getting electric fencing, or fixing a mesh roof to the run if hawks are a problem. The hens will be happier, healthier and more relaxed and productive on their own and their backs will heal up and they will look beautiful again.
 
First, my apologies for not responding sooner. Health issues was a hiccup and today I had a regularly scheduled doctor's appt three hours away (I have MS), so things have been a little chaotic. Next, THANK YOU both so much for the help; it really helped me a lot. The two roosters have new homes, so now my hens can start the healing process. I hope I am able to keep these sweeties for a long time. I know everyone around me appreciates their eggs.

Again, thank you so much. I am so grateful for finding this site.
 
You're welcome, dardamcc, I'm very glad you managed to rehome the roosters as sometimes this can be difficult. I'm sure your girls will thank you for it! We do get so fond of them, don't we, and it's always a worry when something goes wrong.
I hope you keep in good health and posting, we'll enjoy hearing more about you and your girls.
 
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