I'm worried about two of my hens - please help!

[Doodle2U]

Two out of my three girls have gone completely bald on their tummies - no where else, just the undercarrige.

I thought the first one was molting (I know it's the wrong time of year but she doesn't!) but now the second one has gone the exact same way. The first one went bald about 2 months ago.

They are both still eating and laying.

It's not molting, is it? What could be wrong? I've checked my books and I've tried to Google.

Any ideas?

Moult / molt?

It DOES have a 'u' in it dunnit?!

Sorry no experience myself but on this forum here it seems quite common for them to moult in December. I'm still waiting for mine to moult and am dreading this happening in Jan or Feb when its freezing. Will have to get knitting and sort them out with woolly jumpers!

Oh thanks Turkey.

Some good tips on that board, isn't there?

Just been thinking about it - I started putting Easibed in the poop trays a few months back and I'm just starting to wonder if I might have introduced red mite and other 'passengers' because it's woodbased. I wonder if that's a possibility? Think I'll clean 'em out again tomorrow and re-dust them with redmite powder.

Off to make some Readybrek (closest we've got to porridge) and see if they go for it.

Yes I like that forum, they seem a friendly bunch, I got loads of info off there when I first got my ladies. Let me know how you get on with Readybrek, I was eyeing it up for my girls in Sainsbos today but wasn't sure if they'd go for it or not.

Do redmites still hang about in winter? Thought they were more of a summer thing? And wouldn't they have stopped laying if it was redmite? (Don't want you to waste your bedding).

readybrek is a very expensive way of buying porridge!

I don't doubt it madlentileater but it's all I've got in until I shop on Monday!

Anyway, I've no idea if they like it or not - by the time I got it out there, they'd hopped off to bed!

do they not lose the feathers underneath them when they go broody? to increase the contact between warm skin and eggs in nest? i assumed that was the case as the one broody weve had and let her sit, she went bald underneath too.
mind you, it couldve been parasites i spose as i couldnt/didnt change the bedding she was nesting in for weeks and weeks, what with the brooding an all.
have you had to shoo them off the eggs in the morning to get to them?

Nope, neither are broody Nappies.

I went to the agricultural suppliers this afternoon and talked to the woman there. She keeps chickens too. She's convinced they are moulting.

Aaaaanyway, I bought a tin of this purple stuff to spray on their poor little red raw tummies (I think it's the animal equivalent of Savlon or Germaline) and I also bought some poultry spice, which ups the necessary for plummage production.

Readybrek has gone down an absolute storm! Mixed in half a tin of sweetcorn and they polished the lot off! Also handy for mixing in poultry spice!

Bedding has been changed and the whole coop has been cleaned out and sprinkled with redmite dust. It's an Omlet Cube, so shouldn't attract redmite but as I said earlier, it may be because I used woodbased stuff in the poop trays.

So I dunno of what else I can do. Will wait and see now!

fwiw, i think i had redmite living in my cube when we used it, so worth doing a total clean out and jetspray or steam clean every now and then. sheets of newspaper are easiest in the poop tray things and i mix in DE or redmite powder with any new straw for the nesting box.

ive never tried this porridge lark on them... think i might give it a go!

mine are bald on their tummies at least a couple of times a year Doodle. once when they moult, and again in late spring when they lay a lot. It doesn't seem to bother them (or me) and a couple of them are ancient (at least 6)
For red mite I've always found the best place to look is on the back of the birds neck. if you lift the plummage so you can see skin, you'll see red mite if you've got them.