2yo hen molting...forever?

[McChooky]

I can totally see your point, in hindsight. These were my very first chickens ever, so I didn't know what I didn't know. She was like this when I got her, a bit disheveled, but I assumed it was a molting thing then. I am hoping to hatch out my own chicks for any future additions to the flock.

A rooster I rescued gave all my chickens lice and mites years ago so no more local birds for me.
6 months of daily dunks and weekly treatments for mite finally got rid of all the mites and hatchlings
I even painted the coop and made new roosting bars.The mite my chickens had live on the chicken underneath the skin in the feather shaft so I had to use ivermectin to kill them.(They also had scaly mites)Their eggs live a year

Edit: During the treatment 2 of my hens died

 

[BDutch]

Deleted this post, somehow I posted it twice.

 

[microchick]

Are you sure you want your give poisonous medicines if you are not sure about the cause. ? This can harm their health further if there is something else underlying.

I don’t see mites or feather lice.

I know some ex-battery hens that had a real bad time in custody, can have severe problems in growing back their feathers. Bald spots can stay forever.

As @nuthatched says, it looks likes the other one is pecking her. If you get the right feed and set her apart for a week or 2, you should see a difference. I know people often use blue cote to stop the pecking too.

@Shadrach knows more about ex-bats than I do (I know these things only from reading. )

Sorry, I'm a retired nurse. My job was to give people toxic medications in the right dosages in order to cure them of whatever ails them or improve their quality of life.

I take a load of medicines myself. One of the main reasons I've made it to 72 (in two weeks)

I've also dealt with a flock of chickens full of Marek's disease so I don't hesitate to use medications on them when the need arises even if it's antibiotics or worm medicines.

Nothing in access. Use just what you have to. Chickens are fragile creatures and DE only works if you don't have an acutely infested chicken. We have Amish around us. They use vinegar and garlic on parasites....and their sheep were dropping dead in our corral due to parasite load.

I'm all for natural means of dealing with problems if the natural means is used in conjunction with medicinal drugs. Complimentary medicine. Looking ahead I saw that my suspicions were correct and the coop is infested with red mites. I'd go with a few drops of Ivermectin topical, a thorough clean out of the coop and sprayed afterwards. Going to have some work to do to get the little blood suckers out of the coop and off of the chickens but very doable.

 

[WannabeHomsteader]

A rooster I rescued gave all my chickens lice and mites years ago so no more local birds for me.
6 months of daily dunks and weekly treatments for mite finally got rid of all the mites and hatchlings
I even painted the coop and made new roosting bars.The mite my chickens had live on the chicken underneath the skin in the feather shaft so I had to use ivermectin to kill them.(They also had scaly mites)Their eggs live a year

Edit: During the treatment 2 of my hens died

Ugh, I am so sorry. That sounds awful. I don't blame you for being "picky" about raising your own birds. I feel bad I've missed the red mites this long. My hen doesn't look like she's about to drop dead, so I am hoping I have time to gather materials/meds to treat her thoroughly.

 

[WannabeHomsteader]

Sorry, I'm a retired nurse. My job was to give people toxic medications in the right dosages in order to cure them of whatever ails them or improve their quality of life.

I take a load of medicines myself. One of the main reasons I've made it to 72 (in two weeks)

I've also dealt with a flock of chickens full of Marek's disease so I don't hesitate to use medications on them when the need arises even if it's antibiotics or worm medicines.

Nothing in access. Use just what you have to. Chickens are fragile creatures and DE only works if you don't have an acutely infested chicken. We have Amish around us. They use vinegar and garlic on parasites....and their sheep were dropping dead in our corral due to parasite load.

I'm all for natural means of dealing with problems if the natural means is used in conjunction with medicinal drugs. Complimentary medicine. Looking ahead I saw that my suspicions were correct and the coop is infested with red mites. I'd go with a few drops of Ivermectin topical, a thorough clean out of the coop and sprayed afterwards. Going to have some work to do to get the little blood suckers out of the coop and off of the chickens but very doable.

Sprayed with what?

 

[WannabeHomsteader]

Something else of note: I think my hens are not using their dust bath often. I put a wide, shallow bucket of sand in the run. I only occasionally see them dust bathe in the dirt floor of their run, but they only sit in the sand bucket when it's super hot outside. How do I encourage them to dust bathe more?

 

[microchick]

Sprayed with what?

Tractor Supply sells a Mana Pro all natural coop spray for lice and mites.

Before they announced that it wasn't safe, 7seven powder was the treatment of choice. On the one time I found lice on a couple of chickens, I just sprinkled 7seve dust in the nesting boxes. The hens would get in, dig around and treat themselves.

You can google sprays to kill mites and lice in coops and there are a lot of hits.

 

[McChooky]

Ugh, I am so sorry. That sounds awful. I don't blame you for being "picky" about raising your own birds. I feel bad I've missed the red mites this long. My hen doesn't look like she's about to drop dead, so I am hoping I have time to gather materials/meds to treat her thoroughly.

The treatment is not the same for all mites.Some live on the chicken or underneath the skin or feathers Others live in the coop and feast on the chickens as they roost at night.Are you sure what kind you have?

 

[McChooky]

Something else of note: I think my hens are not using their dust bath often. I put a wide, shallow bucket of sand in the run. I only occasionally see them dust bathe in the dirt floor of their run, but they only sit in the sand bucket when it's super hot outside. How do I encourage them to dust bathe more?

They need a bigger area than a bucket( they like to dust baths and sun bathe together)Its like a social thing chickens do.Mine like sand,black garden soil and plain ole sawdust

 

[WannabeHomsteader]

The treatment is not the same for all mites.Some live on the chicken or underneath the skin or feathers Others live in the coop and feast on the chickens as they roost at night.Are you sure what kind you have?

Not 100% sure, but I saw them in the nesting boxes this morning. They looked to be a brown or very dark red. They are tiny little round things. I have not seen them on my birds, though that doesn't mean they're not there.