bare bums

[BUFFS]

why do some birds lose/remove the feathers on their keel,between the legs ,going back to the tail, i now have 3 like this,they seem okay,feeding ,laying and daft as usual,just bare..i have 2/3 birds who have decided they like sleeping outside each night,they are in a totally caged area, but one has decided to lay her egg on a 12ins wide x 4ft long shelf, over 5ft up the side of the coop area fencing,she goes up there around 7/8pm and comes down next morning ,having laid her egg,luckily the plank has now got a slight bow in the middle,so the eggg rolls about,but doesnt fall,she is a plymouth rock and not the sharpest pencil in the box...the bird version of miss piggy,climbs over the rest to be first at the food..

[Flummery]

With both bare bums and sleeping outside I'd check for mites or lice.

[Snadger]

Agree with Flum. One of my small flocks are aquiring bare bums and after I'd been in the coop collecting the eggs I was itching all over. (like I am now thinking about it!)
Sure enough it was mites!

I have a sprayer with a permethrin mix always at hand and blasted all the coops with it............no more itching and no more mites! Hopefully chooks will be a bit more comfortable as well!

[BUFFS]

i have checked,no sign of body lice,they had some last year,diatom powder in coop for several months now and cant find any of the little b...ers,we did have some mites prior to that ,that we got rid of by spraying with the liquid and then powder smite,it could be that it all predates the treatment,they also had their puppy shampoo baths the other week,they scubbed up quite well,so hopefully its a leftover from early spring bug invasion,now the sun is here,they are all lying in their dustbowl area, with their wings out and eyes closed,some virtually on top of lesser ranking birds...just had a tubfull of cooked tattie peelings... i do check the coop each day as i clean them out and replace bedding(newspapers to catch the roost poo,daily, and shredded documents for the nest boxes,changed weekly).fresh powder on sats when everything is replaced...the birds concerned all came from one supplier,who had them running round a field,roosting in some 8/10ft trees,took us nearly 20 min to catch them,but have been back out and checked 3 birds ,all clear of bugs and coop has no signs,so must be from springtime bug visitation.....fingers crossed,take nothing for granted with bugs..

[baldrick]

are they pecking when you are not looking. Was talking to a lady yesterday with loads of chooks all really happy and well kept in their pens but the 3 leghorns have pecked each others bums bare. She was really frustrated by it.

[BUFFS]

are they pecking when you are not looking. Was talking to a lady yesterday with loads of chooks all really happy and well kept in their pens but the 3 leghorns have pecked each others bums bare. She was really frustrated by it.

it could be pecking, as the boss bird lost her sister earlier in the year and has been more dominant, and always seems to be reaffirming that top status,chasing the lesser birds to remind them who is in charge....

[petal]

bare bums=broody. They remove feathers in that area so that the eggs have a more effective temperature and humidity.

[Flummery]

My broody pulled hers off from under her chest and snuggled up eggs either side of her breast-bone. Definitely wasn't bum area.

[petal]

agreed but it does say on the keel on the first post- going backwards-?

[Flummery]

Aye, happen - I've had a sleep since then!