Molting or Mites (or Both)?

[CoralHouseCoop]

The only girl left in my original flock is about 2.5 years old and has started losing a lot of feathers. Over the last week she started losing the down feathers on her body, and last night she lost some of her tail feathers. She does not seem to be following the typical pattern of feather loss I've seen outlined online and in handbooks. She's my only girl currently molting, so I don't have anyone to compare her to, and last year she had a very mild molt in November.

I can see the very beginning of pin feathers on her shoulders, but I was looking on her rear feathers to see if there could be anything else causing such a rapid loss and couldn't tell if what is there is mite/lice debris or not (see the second image). I did not see similar debris on either of her sisters.

Some more details about her: she stopped laying eggs about two weeks ago after having a rubber egg and a few abnormal eggs (I never saw them as she laid them outside of the nesting box and her sisters ate them). We are also treating her bumblefoot at the moment, working with a vet, so she is on Meloxicam. She is normally very healthy and hasn't been known to have egg troubles at all.

I want to know if people think this is just a very heavy molt and to keep monitoring her (and give her additional protein sources), or if they think this is something I should be concerned about / seek additional advice on.

Thank you!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Unfortunately it's very hard to see if there's parasites or debris off a photo. Check other parts of her body as well, and check the rest of the flock - if you have a mite infestation, they're not only going to be on one bird.

Given her age, time of season and presence of pin feathers, and lack of laying, I'd wager this is a molt.