Why do my chickens have scabby patches and missing feathers?

Poor Mrs. Star! Loss of feathers can be due to a number of things, including mites or parasites, skin issues, or even learned behaviors/stress. Checking for any signs of mites (stuff attached to the feathers, crawling bugs on the body, excessive itching, etc) can alert you to this. If you are seeing any wounds, making sure to treat them and keep Mrs. Star separate until the wound is healed is best (as other chickens are likely to peck at the exposed area.) If the feather plucking has become a learned behavior, using a chicken apron to protect the area, or an Elizabethan (cone) collar to break the habit for a few days may help the area to start to heal. Making sure all of the hens have enough space, plenty of enrichment, etc is also a good idea to help decrease stress.

Penni may be molting, have mites or, if you have a rooster as well, the rooster may be rubbing the feathers off as he fertilizes Penni's eggs. If she is molting , it will look very ugly and she will lose and replace all feathers and look fairly naked during molt. Mites can cause feather loss, but you would see her scratching and picking at herself. If you have a rooster and it is caused by him, you can get a little chicken apron to put on her proteting her back feathers. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. Please take the time to mark this question as helpful or not as it helps us to improve on the quality of our answers to other pet owners. Thank you kindly!

She is definitely in need of an examination by a veterinarian to assess the situation more carefully. Based on the information you've provided, it sounds like she could have some sort of upper respiratory infection, as these often can cause the eyes to crust up and shut completely. Antibiotics and anti inflammatory medication are usually the best bets for this sort of ailment. However, first things first, you'll need to have someone take a look at her to make sure there isn't a primary ocular issue going on instead. Hope this makes sense.

Without knowing more about the signs that your birds are showing, it is difficult to say what is going on with them. There is a lot of overlap with infectious diseases in chickens, so many of them can look alike. The treatments for them, however, can vary, and need to be initiated by a veterinarian. I would recommend that you contact a veterinarian in your area so that s/he can do a physical exam on at least one of your birds. I was unable to find where you were located based on your zip code, as it did not give any results for the US. There are some regions which have avian diagnostic labs, and many times they have a chicken veterinarian on staff. This may be an option for you depending on your location. At home, you can try supportive care for the birds. Ensuring they have a warm place to go is crucial, so they don’t have to work as hard to keep warm (chicken body temperatures are about 102-104 F). Also make sure they have fresh water and food easily available to them, and monitor to ensure they are eating. To do this, you can feel along the bottom of their necks - this is where the crop is, and it is a pocket in their esophagus where good is stored when they eat. If you feel good in it, that is good as it indicates they are eating. If it is empty, they are not. Please do not give any human medications to your birds, as many of them can be harmful to chickens. I hope that gives you a place to start, and good luck.

He may have mites or a bacterial infection. There is also a serious viral infection that can cause similar symptoms. Have your bird examined by your veterinarian or an experienced avian vet as soon as you can get an appointment. If your bird is caged with others, separate him until a diagnosis is made in case his condition is infectious.

It's possible the chick is getting picked on or has parasites that are causing the feather loss and runny stool. A medicated feed, deworming, and treating for any external parasites is a good idea. If the other chicks are pecking at it, removing it to a hospital cage for a few days and then reintroducing it to the flock is best to allow for time to recover and heal. I would also make sure there is a heat lamp provided until the feathers have come in.

It would be best to discourage mice being in the coop as much as possible, either by setting traps or making sure the grain fed to the chickens is hung out of reach and all grain-bins are closed. While they may not transmit much or anything to your hens, the droppings can transmit diseases to the humans cleaning the coop if not properly handled. Chickens should have feathers. It is possible your hen is molting (losing feathers while new ones grow in) which is normal and happens yearly for most chickens, and you will see pin (or short pin-like) feathers signaling new feathers regrowing. If your chicken is not regrowing the feathers or is being picked on, it may indicate an issue such as being bullied, parasites, illness, etc and should be checked out by a vet.