Have you ever been shocked seeing some feather on your farm? You might think that your chickens have lost lots of feather and it is a dangerous condition for them.
Fortunately, it is not something to be worried of as it is common for your chicken to lose some of the feathers. If you plan to raise broiler chicken you can see the benefits of-raising broiler chickens.
You might be also wondering which parts of the chicken’s body that normally lose feathers. They are mostly around the neck, back, chest and bottom (near the vent area). If your chickens lose their feathers around those areas, then be calm. There is nothing serious about it.
Let’s see 5 common reasons why your chickens lose feathers not to be worried about.
This condition commonly happens to hens when they want to lay eggs. This condition causes the hen to pull their own feathers. It is very unique, isn’t it?
Hens pull their own feathers to build up a nest for their eggs and themselves as well. The nest will keep them warm and prepare the eggs to be hatched. However if your hen doesn’t seem to lay eggs, you can learn about reasons why hens won’t lay eggs.
Broodiness is not something you need to worry about. It is a natural process undergone by hens. If you want to prevent your hen’s broodiness, you can simply prevent it from pulling its feathers.
What is preening? Preening is a process which the chickens go through to move oils from the glands of their tails to the feathers. This kind of oil will help to examine the presence of parasites.
Preening oil enables the feather to be waterproof so it will be easier to convert vitamin D from the sun so it will be usable. Preening is also not dangerous, as it is normal behavior of chicken grooming.
Don’t be panic once you see feathers on the ground. As long as your chicken is healthy and do not miss large clumps of feathers, it is still considered normal.
This is another common reason of losing feather among chickens. If you have various groups of chickens based on their age, breed or dispositions, then it is a common thing to find some missing chicken’s feather.
Not only chickens, it can also be a group of other poultry animals, such as ducks. If you put ducks and chickens in the same coop, then consider these things if you want to raise ducks and chickens in the same coop.
Chickens like to bully each other if they figure out any weakness in the flock. There might be some hens that are high on the pecking order and want to show their dominance among others by pulling the feathers of other chickens.
Learn about the tips on how to prevent chickens from fighting. Who does not want to live peacefully?
What to do once you see this kind of behavior? Isolate the bullied chickens, especially if you figure out the presence of blood. The bully might be cannibalistic if this kind of problem is not taken seriously.
However, if you see that the condition is still manageable, you can spend some time on observing your flock, see their interaction and aggression that might happen between the members of the flock.
Feather loss can be caused by the presence of lice or chicken mites. As a chicken owner, you must be aware of these must know facts about poultry lice that might attack your flocks. These lice or chicken mites tend to hide in the corner of the coop and usually come out at night.
They can spread infections and might cause the scales on your chicken’s legs to be lost. Your chicken might also die because of mites as they will steal the nutrients from your chicken’s body. Learn about the ways on how to identify that your chickens getting attacked by poultry lice.
If this case happens, you can clean up your coop regularly at least once a week to make sure that the lice or mites are not occupying the corner of it. You can use some herbal remedies as well to get rid of the lice or mites, such as peppermint, lemongrass or cinnamon.
They are not only useful to get rid of mites, but they will also keep your coop smell good! Another alternative is soaking your hen in a tub of warm water with dish detergent, vinegar and salt. This will help to bring the lice floating on the surface of water.
If you have a rooster inside the coop along with other hens, then the rooster might be blamed for the feather loss. Mating is not harmful for chickens, but “overmating” will be dangerous because the rooster will pull many feathers from the back of the hen.
As a result, the hen’s feathers on its chest and backs will be completely bare. The worst effect of overmating is the rooster can even pull the skin of the hen. Once the hen’s skin is pulled, there will be a possibility of flies laying eggs that develop into maggots.
Once you figure out that you have an aggressive rooster in the coop, isolate it directly. Besides, if the feathers of the hen are pulled already, you can put chicken saddle to cover the bald area and prevent further infection.
After seeing the 5 reasons why your chickens lose feathers not to be worried about, you can conclude that loss of feathers on chickens is not a serious thing to be worried of, but it does not mean you can take it easy.
Raising chickens and other poultry animals needs careful attention. However, by being knowledgeable about it, you can provide a comfortable place for your chickens to be happy and healthy. Read more about chickens on the ways to stop chicken from eating their eggs and common bad habits about chicken you should know.