Causes of feather loss in chickens and treatment methods

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Every person who breeds poultry wants his animals to be healthy, and the productivity from their breeding was at the highest possible level. But sometimes it happens that birds fall out feathers in different parts of the body. This process has received the scientific name - alopecia. The reasons for the phenomenon may be different, therefore, before starting to take any measures, the owners should find out why the feathers of chickens fall out. Only then can you begin to fight against alopecia.

Why do chickens drop feathers

It is important to remember that self-medication of animals, like self-medication of people, can only be carried out by agreeing on the methods with a specialist. It is also important to remember that the use of official medicines does not always give an immediate effect.

Distinctive features of the problem

It's no secret that chickens, like any other bird, go through a seasonal molt... During this period, feathers from the tail fall out of birds, foci appear on the neck, feathers fall from the wings. Therefore, a person who first encountered such a phenomenon as feather loss may confuse plumage change and alopecia.

During the loss of feathers in chickens, which is not due to the seasonal change of plumage, certain parts of the bird's body fall under the influence of the problem, namely:

• neck and chest area;
• less often, the back and tail.

If dropped feathers are discolored, this clearly indicates that the bird has been affected by alopecia. Also, due to the development of a problem situation, fluff may fall out, which does not happen during seasonal molting.

Chickens go bald due to alopecia at any time of the year. This is one of the main features that helps breeders determine when to worry about the health of their birds.

As soon as the owner notices that the feathers of his pets have begun to fall out too abundantly, discolor and cause baldness in certain areas of the body, it is worth finding out what is the cause of alopecia and taking measures to eliminate the problem, otherwise the chickens may completely lose their plumage. In most cases, it can be argued that complete baldness due to alopecia threatens representatives of meat or meat and dairy breeds, for example, broilers.

For what reasons can feathers fall out

In order to provide timely and correct assistance to your farm, it is important to correctly determine the cause of feather loss from many possible ones. At the current time, the following reasons for the development of the problem are known, due to which the plumage may fall out in layers:

• incorrect diet;
• containment violations;
• the presence of parasitic organisms in poultry organisms.

Feathers fall out from domestic chickens due to the fact that the diet of birds is not balanced enough.Deviations in bird feeding become the main reason why such a problematic situation as alopecia develops, the skin rejects the feather. Here you can draw a fairly simple analogy with a person: if a vitamin or an important element is present in an insufficient amount in the human body, this begins to affect its health and appearance, the skin becomes pale and dry. Chickens, with such a deficiency, begin to lose their plumage on the neck, chest or tail.

Baldness of a bird on the neck and other parts of the body can develop in the case of a lack of the following elements obtained through nutrition:

• calcium;
• iodine;
• phosphorus;
• sulfur.

However, feathers from the tail or other part of the body do not fall out of poultry only when it is not properly fed. In the conditions of keeping layers, there is another reason why the plumage is rapidly falling out. Chickens can lose their plumage if, when kept at home, the owners provided them with an insufficient level of lighting, they were not well organized ventilation or do not maintain the proper level of cleanliness.

Another factor affecting the appearance and development of alopecia in poultry is the presence of parasitic organisms that feed on chicken feathers and down. Parasites settle on the skin and in the sub-feather layer.

If, in the conditions of keeping and caring for birds, there are no violations that can cause a problem, and feathers continue to fall out on the back, neck or butt, it is worth considering whether the pets are getting enough food, maybe they have a lack of vitamins. During the period of the seasonal change of plumage, birds feed 2 times more than the rest of the time. It is for this reason that, with insufficient feeding, the chicken can also lose the feathers that it needs.

Symptomatic picture of alopecia

The fact that a bird is prone to plumage loss can be recognized by several signs. As soon as they are identified, it is worth starting to determine the cause of this phenomenon and the appropriate treatment measures, otherwise the health of the bird will weaken so much that it will become vulnerable to all possible diseases.

The presence of alopecia is indicated not only by the deprivation of feathers and fluff, but also by a decrease in the egg production of pets, a decrease in immunity and weight loss. There are also known cases of chicken cannibalism due to the development of this problem.

With alopecia, most of the necessary cover falls on the neck, back, root of the tail, on the abdomen and chest. Neglected cases can lead to complete baldness feathered. The initial examination of a sick animal also shows that the code has become inflamed in the affected areas, sometimes even bruising may appear.

What are the ways to solve the problem

In order to cure your pets, it is important to understand as clearly as possible for what reason the feathers on the butt or neck of both the hen and the rooster fall out. Each specific case of the development of alopecia requires individual measures, so the owner needs to clearly know what to do when feathering on the back, neck or tail, depending on the cause.

How to deal with inadequate nutrition

As mentioned earlier, the causes of feather loss begin with an inappropriate diet. An auxiliary symptom in this case is that the feathers are not shiny enough. Egg clutch rates may also decrease. In this case, you can treat the problem as follows:

1. Add more minerals to the feed and vitamins... You can do this by purchasing special supplements from the store.
2. In addition to vitamins, add 0.3 g of sulfur to the feed for each meal. Instead of sulfur, it is possible to use Glauber's salt.
3. The use of iodine or potassium permanganate solutions will help restore the balance of minerals. To prevent the loss of plumage, such solutions are watered in the morning 1 time in 2 days.

What will help stop hair loss if the content is incorrect

If the reason for the development of feather loss lies in the conditions in which the birds are kept, it is quite simple to correct the situation: all contamination should be removed from the premises for keeping birds, and then carried out disinfection... Checking and adjusting the ventilation system and airing the premises will also help fix the problem.

In order not to carry out regular disinfection with chemicals, it is possible to envisage the natural destruction of infections with the help of sunlight.

To do this, it is enough to make a large enough window in the building where the chickens are. A large window will allow sunlight to freely enter the building for natural disinfection.

Also, to solve the problem, it is important to provide your pets with the opportunity to walk in an open space for at least 1 hour a day. Regular walks can strengthen the immune system, stretch the muscular system of birds.

How to deal with parasites

If the rooster periodically falls out of feathers, and the conditions of detention and the diet are normal, you should think about whether the pets have parasites. In the presence of organisms that lead a parasitic lifestyle, hygiene comes to the fore in those rooms where birds are kept. It is important to air the chicken coops regularly and in a timely manner, as well as to carry out regular disinfection in them.

The use of ash will help protect your feathered pets from falling out of feathers on the neck and other parts of the body.

You don't need to do something complicated for this: just place a container filled with ash. Birds will swim in it, cleaning their feathers. Using this simple technique can help prevent the development of chewing lice and other organisms that are used to parasitizing.

What else can help

It is important not only to stop feather loss on the chicken's neck and other parts of the body, but also to restore the lost cover. It is also necessary to return the fallen indicators. To do this, you can purchase lamps that emit ultraviolet light, with sufficient financial opportunity. This will increase the level of egg clutches in winter, as well as replenish the missing amount of vitamin D.

Also, the use of the following food products helps in restoring health with alopecia:

• legumes;
• bone flour;
• cabbage;
• roots;
• cake;
• oats.

Also, a decrease in the amount of fatty foods in the diet will help stabilize adult chickens and chickens in the event of feather loss. Sometimes a disturbance in the feeding system of birds can cause molt.

To understand what exactly is causing the molt, you need to monitor the pets, observing whether changing the diet helps. If changing your diet doesn't help, you need to look for a veterinarian.

Conclusion

Alopecia is a serious problem. It leads to the fact that birds not only lose their feathers on the neck and in other places, they go into a state of general weakness and vulnerability to disease due to weakened immunity.

Before doing anything to stop this process, it is important to distinguish between alopecia and normal seasonal shedding. The distinguishing features are as follows:

• feathers lose their shine, and the fallen plumage is discolored;
• with alopecia, not only feathers can fall out, but also down;
• the skin in the affected areas turns red, bruising is possible;
• the level of egg laying decreases, the immunity is weakened.

So, if the pets go bald, and the skin at the place where the feathers fell out turns red - it's time to run as best as you can to the veterinarian for advice, although there are many folk remedies that will help eliminate the existing problem and stabilize the condition of feathered pets. However, before using them, it is important to correctly determine the cause of alopecia, otherwise the measures taken will not be effective enough and will not be able to completely eliminate the problem. If all of the above methods do not help, you need to change the place of keeping the birds.