Feather picking???

[MRD4]

I’m wondering if I have a feather picker. It’s driving me mad. I have 2 runs side by side with 2 separate flocks. One flock is perfectly fine while the other not so much.
I first started with 2 smaller hens that had average tail feathers growing back after their moult and thought they would eventually grow. Then I noticed one then started to get a bare bum. All chooks wormed and mite/lice treated.
Just the passed week I have noticed my roosters feathers are now broken off and frizzy. I treated again for mites etc when I noticed him but surely he wouldn’t be able to itch off and break feathers on the back of his neck? Yesterday I noticed he now has a bare bum too. 6 other hens in the same run look great.
Is this consistent with a feather picker? Or am I looking at a big mite problem?

 

[aart]

Is one bird is not missing feathers, that may be the picking culprit.


Have you checked them over real well for mites and/or lice?

Google images of lice/mites and their eggs before the inspection so you'll know what you're looking for.

Part the feathers right down to the skin around vent, head/neck and under wings.

Best done well after dark with a strong flashlight/headlight, easier to 'catch' bird and also to check for the mites that live in structure and only come out at night to feed off roosting birds.

Wipe a white paper towel along the underside of roost to look for red smears(smashed well fed mites).

Good post about mite ID by Lady McCamley:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-chicken-has-mites-now-what.1273674/page-2#post-20483008

 

[MRD4]

Is one bird is not missing feathers, that may be the picking culprit.


Have you checked them over real well for mites and/or lice?

Google images of lice/mites and their eggs before the inspection so you'll know what you're looking for.

Part the feathers right down to the skin around vent, head/neck and under wings.

Best done well after dark with a strong flashlight/headlight, easier to 'catch' bird and also to check for the mites that live in structure and only come out at night to feed off roosting birds.

Wipe a white paper towel along the underside of roost to look for red smears(smashed well fed mites).

Good post about mite ID by Lady McCamley:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-chicken-has-mites-now-what.1273674/page-2#post-20483008

I have checked them at night with torch and found no evidence of eggs near vent on neck or under wings. The coop is also only 5 months old and I’ve given it a proper clean. I will definitely give the paper towel trick a go though!
6 hens in the run look completely normal, no missing feathers, it’s just these 2 and now the rooster.