- May 31, 2011
- 94
- 1
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A friend of a friend had to get rid of her flock of 11 ladies. I acquired 4. A dominique, a Rhode Island red, a buff orpington, and a bizarre looking but beautiful creature by the name of "Weirdo". All looked and acted very healthy. No mites or lice or anything external. The usual getting to know you pecking order establishment behavior from all. The RI red all of a sudden started losing massive feathers. She would just be walking and they would fall off her. Not broken or from picking or from getting picked on. Now all 4 new girls have lost the majority of their feathers. The dominique(Oreo), the buff(Honey), the RI(Wendy), and Weirdo are almost bald. It is winter. The vet has no clue. They are eating normally, still laying, and behaving normally. It looks like a massacre out in my designated chicken area from all the feather loss. It is not a normal molt. Is is just stress? It is winter and they must be cold. They are warm in the coop at night and some days it gets very cold, below freezing, during the day here. What, if anything, do I need to do? Is it just stress from being moved twice? HELP!!!!