Missing feathers around vent and lower back. Can't figure out why!

[GardenTeacher]

Hi everyone, I appreciate any help you can offer me. My chickens have been having serious feather loss for the past few months and I can't figure out why. I don't see lice or mites, they are on a balanced high-quality feed, they have enough space. Maybe they are bored? The feather loss is mostly around their vents and also on their lower backs around their oil glands.

Here is a picture of Lola and her weird de-feathered butt.


Thank you for any help!!

 

[GardenTeacher]

I should add that this picture is from a week ago. Now her whole underbelly is pecked completely clean of feathers. But she isn't brooding...

 

[MySweetChickens]

this site might help if not let me know and i will try something else site here


maybe this

if your hen has irritated, raw, bald areas, especially near the vent, take a closer look for parasites. Pick up your birds and examine them closely. (To learn how to do this, watch my youtube video.) Feather loss can be due to external parasites, typically lice, or sometimes mites. A louse infestation is first seen near the vent. There will be bare skin, and the feather shafts will look like Q-tips. You might see the lice crawling about. I’ve written about lice here. Mites are nighttime blood suckers, the size of pins. You’ll see dried blood and rawness near the vent.
Once in awhile, there will be a feather-picking hen in the group. You might never catch her in the act, but she’ll peck away at the other hens’ feathers, until, one day, you notice bare spots and possibly blood. Some feather pecking is due to aggression. In other cases, the culprits are pecking the feathers off to eat them. Usually you’ll see the bald areas near the vent or at the base of the tail. Once a chicken is pecked at, the behavior escalates because all hens will peck at red skin. So, it’s important to catch and stop this behavior quickly after you notice it.

Once hens get into the bad habit of feather picking and eating, it is hard to stop, but possible. The first step is to darken the afflicted hen’s skin, which reduces the cannibalistic behavior. You can dye the skin with blu-kote (similar to genetian violet in the UK.) It dyes the skin purplish-blue, so the hens don’t peck. (Use disposable gloves when doing this, as it will also stain your skin.) Feather eating can occur because the hens need more roughage and more protein in their diet. It can also start because of boredom and crowding. So, make sure that they have access to oyster shell and grit. Reduce empty calorie treats like cracked corn and stale bread, provide greens and interesting things to eat like melons and squash. Also take stock of your housing. Is there enough space and access to feed for everyone?
Sometimes, everything is fine but there is still feather picking. In the case of Jasper, the hen seen in the photo above, she lets the other hens pick her tail feathers off. Jasper is a dominant hen and she could stop this behavior if she wanted to. Blood is never drawn. It’s an odd habit, but I ignore it.
Some hens lose feather near their vent because they have a continual stream for thin diarrhea. This might be vent gleet, which is an intractable yeast infection. I’ve written about it here.
On the other hand, feather loss combined with a swollen bottom that feels like a water balloon can be any number of dire diseases, from cancer to egg impaction. You’ll know if there’s an underlying ailment because the hen will show other symptoms, like an odd, penguin-like walk, tiredness, and a lack of appetite. Without those additional clues, feather loss is rarely a serious problem.
Sometimes, you never know why a hen has raw, red, rough skin. I have a Barred Rock who developed what looked like a rash. For a while the skin was hot to the touch and she walked with stiffness. She lost all of her butt feathers, which never grew back, I bathed her and used povidone and she moved with less discomfort, and the skin thickened but remained red. Two years later she still has a bald bottom, but is otherwise fine. Sometimes feather loss is a mystery.

Look here too it also could be molting

 

[GardenTeacher]

Hmm, I've done blu-kot and it has worked ok. I can't see any lice or mites though I'll check again. I've been spreading DE around the run for dust baths as a "just in case" and I guess I'll rake out the pen today. Maybe I'll call in a chicken friend to come investigate for critters I may be missing...

 

[RorysMom]

Hi everyone, I appreciate any help you can offer me. My chickens have been having serious feather loss for the past few months and I can't figure out why. I don't see lice or mites, they are on a balanced hLola?

My Saphire Olive Egger looks just lile Lola

igh-quality feed, they have enough space. Maybe they are bored? The feather loss is mostly around their vents and also on their lower backs around their oil glands.

Here is a picture of Lola and her weird de-feathered butt.


Thank you for any help!!

What caused this in

 

[RorysMom]

Help. My Reba, a Saphire Olive Egger a baby really only 10 months old. But this began 8 weeks ago.

 

[RorysMom]

This is my Reba. In Late September we discovered her in this condition. Over phone a vet thought it was Gleet. So I bathed her and lightly shampooed her. She enjoyed the shower head on her booty. Isolated her in house. Applied Neosporin. Next day applied creamy Bees wax. She improved. Always ate and drank well. No sign of parasites. 2 months later put her back in coop. 1 week. She's red inflamed on skin again. But nowhere as bad as first incident. She's now a spoiled house hen.

Hmm, I've done blu-kot and it has worked ok. I can't see any lice or mites though I'll check again. I've been spreading DE around the run for dust baths as a "just in case" and I guess I'll rake out the pen today. Maybe I'll call in a chicken friend to come investigate for critters I may be missing...

What is DE ?

 

[RorysMom]

Help needed. This is my Sapphire Olive Egger 10 month old Reba. Pics are various stages of improvement. But now no sign of half of the new feathers seen in these pics. Anyone have a clue what caused this ? Or how to regrow her feathers ? 12/14/23.