Hi, happy new year!
I have 2 chickens: a Rhode Island Red (Red) and a Plymouth Blue Rock (Blue). The red chicken has a spot on her neck that has lost feathers. It started about 2 weeks ago; I thought she was molting but it doesn't seem like that now. The spot on red has not gotten worse, but it hasn't gone away either. Today when taking pictures of red, I noticed a spot of missing feathers on her belly. The blue chicken started losing feather about 3 days ago; she has molted in the winter before but I no longer think that is what is going on. Blue has lost all her tail feathers and A LOT of her underneath feathers. Other than the missing tail, she looks normal. I can post a photo tomorrow if that would help. They both still have all their wing feathers as best as I can tell. No bleeding, injury, broken bones, or other signs of trauma. Blue seems to have lost a lot of her spunk.
They both have been eating Mule City feed for the past year, though they have stopped eating the pellets and only eat the corn. They both forage in the yard daily. They seem to be drinking normally, though maybe a bit less. Poop looks normal. I did not see any mites on red; blue ran away from me when I tried to get her but nothing on the missing feathers that I could see. I have done nothing so far for them in terms of treatment.
I would like to treat them at home without taking them anywhere. They have had the same coop for 3 years. I use pine bedding, the same type of bedding I have used for 3 years. I do not wash the coop (I remove the poop from the top roost area and bottom run and replace the bedding in the roost about every 3-4 weeks).
It is possible they caught something from a rodent that entered the coop while they were out and the door was open (I am assuming this happened since there was a broken egg about 2 weeks ago).
Thank you so much for your suggestions!!!
Kevin
ps. I assume I should get a heater for the coop since they have lost so many feathers. The weather has been pretty mild lately, but it is about to get pretty cold (25-30 F).
I have 2 chickens: a Rhode Island Red (Red) and a Plymouth Blue Rock (Blue). The red chicken has a spot on her neck that has lost feathers. It started about 2 weeks ago; I thought she was molting but it doesn't seem like that now. The spot on red has not gotten worse, but it hasn't gone away either. Today when taking pictures of red, I noticed a spot of missing feathers on her belly. The blue chicken started losing feather about 3 days ago; she has molted in the winter before but I no longer think that is what is going on. Blue has lost all her tail feathers and A LOT of her underneath feathers. Other than the missing tail, she looks normal. I can post a photo tomorrow if that would help. They both still have all their wing feathers as best as I can tell. No bleeding, injury, broken bones, or other signs of trauma. Blue seems to have lost a lot of her spunk.
They both have been eating Mule City feed for the past year, though they have stopped eating the pellets and only eat the corn. They both forage in the yard daily. They seem to be drinking normally, though maybe a bit less. Poop looks normal. I did not see any mites on red; blue ran away from me when I tried to get her but nothing on the missing feathers that I could see. I have done nothing so far for them in terms of treatment.
I would like to treat them at home without taking them anywhere. They have had the same coop for 3 years. I use pine bedding, the same type of bedding I have used for 3 years. I do not wash the coop (I remove the poop from the top roost area and bottom run and replace the bedding in the roost about every 3-4 weeks).
It is possible they caught something from a rodent that entered the coop while they were out and the door was open (I am assuming this happened since there was a broken egg about 2 weeks ago).
Thank you so much for your suggestions!!!
Kevin
ps. I assume I should get a heater for the coop since they have lost so many feathers. The weather has been pretty mild lately, but it is about to get pretty cold (25-30 F).
