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Hello again sorry I've not been around for a while, I have been hugely busy over the summer.

Our chickens have had a dramatic drop in egg production. They also have feather loss over their lower belly, on two of them it extends up the chest and under their wings. Patches of the bare skin are bright red, but not damaged in any way. We cannot see any eggs or anything on the feathers to indicate lice or mites, their combs are still bright red and healthy, and they're still eating well. Their not frantically picking at themselves with irritation either.

I have no idea what's wrong. Can anyone advise me? I've scoured the internet but I think I'm missing the key word...

All advice is very gratefully received. Cassie

It depends a bit on how old your chicken are and how long they have been laying.
Apart from being a bit early it sounds like they are moulting.
That usually happens in the autumn when the daylight gets shorter, but if they have been laying eggs for a long time, they do moult earlier.
If I'm right, it's nothing to worry about, just keep feeding them as normal and in a few weeks time they will have nice new feathers and hopefully start laying eggs again.

Could they just be going through a moult period? Egg production will drop and obviously they will shed their feathers during this time. You can help by giving them some extra protein but basically you need to wait for them to get their new coats!

This is the reason battery hens are culled (or thankfully rescued in our girls' case) at this time of year! Once egg production drops to less than 6 a week! We're getting one or two eggs a day from our 4 girls but they are growing feathers back now and I have them on breeders pellets as well as layers mash.

Hope this helps!

I can only go from my limited experience but my girls have never lost so many feathers that you could see their bare skin, and when they do moult (and go off lay) their crops etc go pale coloured and shrink in size. One is moulting at the moment but they often go through a partial moult so her new feathers are coming through as the old ones drop out.

Reassuring so far... I had understood that moulting started from the head so I'd discounted this as a benign cause... In that case I'll keep and eye on them.

Mine seem to start on their lower backs just above the tail, then the tail and the head seems to be last!

When mine moult they lose a few feathers which I notice in the shed then they grow new ones. The moulting process does not seem to be such a big deal. Additionally they have never all moulted together. I currently have 1 in moult out of 4.

Have you checked your shed & nest boxes at night with a torch for Red Mites. They remain hidden during the day then come out at night to suck blood. You must look for them at night. I had one very bad Mite infestation and by the time I became aware of it I had lost one of my birds. Lice on the other hand live on the birds and are easily visible and I understand just eat dead skin, unpleasant but not so deadly as Red Mite. Lice make nests around the base of feathers around the vents, they look like honeycombes.

I would not rule out Red Mite until you have had a thorough inspection after dark. Red Mites peak at this time of the year.

Good luck.

MinesaPint thansk for the advice and I'll do another mite check after dark.

MillyMollyMandy It doesn't show that the feathers are gone 'til you turn the chickens over and look under the remaining feathers to find the bare patch, otherwise they look fine and there are new feathers growing in.

Cassie

That sounds like the area where they lose or pick out their feathers when they are broody, but I think you'd have noticed if they had all gone broody!

I've been waiting to get my account enabled, but this does look like a case of going broody. Mine are all at it at minute, and they are ex-battery hens, which are supposed to have this bred out of them!

Bald chest, probably quite warm to touch, reduced egg laying, and possibly quite crabby when picked up. If I catch one going broody, I peobably find that 2 or 3 more start straight after.

Richard

maybe, but then the question has to be where are they brooding? they're out and about all day and always come running when we step outside the house (they're greedy piggies )

No sign of mites at all, and still looking healthy

Hi there
From what you have described, it really does sound like red mites to me. Spray the house with a 50% Creosote and 50% Paraffin solution inside and out. If it is red mites, you will see millions of them come crawling out of the joints. Aim to spray your house every Spring. But using this mix, your hens can go back in the house that evening.
Thanks
Stewart

http://www.BarlingPoultry.co.uk

They're back to full on egg production. as of Sunday... still looking healthy and running like loonies when we get home. If they were broody then they're very bad mums!

I'll check again for mites, but I'm not one for chemicals when they're not needed (ironic considering my job )

Cassie

Good news Cassiepod!

They hadn't been poorly at all. They'd been laying in the barn on the sly.... all that worry about nothing!