losing feathers?

[distincthead]

Hi there again folks,

I have a 2-year-old ameraucana who seems to be missing feathers around her vent region. I have yet to be able to catch her to check it out, she's full of energy and we have lately nicknamed her "anger bird" as she's quite belligerent to three birds we got in about a month ago (but not actually injuring any of them). She's the bossy one I suppose.

Anyways, she's eating, running around, laying and doing everything else just fine and dandy. I don't remember her being so bossy when we first got her at all. I noticed the "bald spot" on her butt about 2 or 3 weeks ago. There aren't any feathers laying about that I've seen in any quantity so they aren't falling out rapidly. I just recently noticed that the spot is larger, about the size of a lemon in diameter.

What could be causing this?

 

[Dorothy1324]

do you have a rooster it could be from a rooster riding her

 

[bayouchica]

Hi there, could be mites or lice. Is that area red or swollen any? Try to check her when she's roosting at night, get a flashlight & check around her vent.
For treatment you can use food grade DE.Some other people have used 5% Sevin dust (very little) in their dusting area.If you have a place that stays dry you can use cold wood ashes in their dusting spot.
If you find bugs, then you'll need to entirley clean your coop & nestboxes out & replace bedding materials.
Oh here's a link from another post about it. Look at the last post, SandraChick gave a good list of what to do.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=9482
Ya know it could also be someone picking her feathers. They could need more protein, like some dry cat food. If ya don't find any bugs on them that could be the problem.

Miriam