I think you have several possible issues going on here, you could have one, all or any combination. First, make sure the cause isn't due to mites. Grab your girls and inspect them well. Dig down to the base of the feather shafts, where mites hang out and lay eggs. Check their heads, undercarriage, between their legs and the area between their vents and legs. Get intimate and highly personal, offend their dignity. Only way to be sure! If you suspect mites, spray or dust them ALL thoroughly, including their coop, roosts and nests. I've gone to using mite/lice spray over anything else, as it's much easier and less messy to use. I use Adam's Flea & Tick Mist with ICR (Insect Growth Regulator, it kills hatching eggs for 3 months!). I have learned with my flock, in our area, that I must routinely worm and spray my birds twice a year. I use Equimax which is 1.87% Ivermectin and 14.03% Praziquantel. It's a broad-spectrum paste wormer for horses that kills nearly everything. I use the wormer and the Adams spray together. Instruction on how I use it are on my chicken info page, here: http://home.earthlink.net/~velvetsparrow/VSChickHealth.htm Since there is no roo, there is also the old boredom/overcrowding bugaboo. Make sure they have a good, balanced diet with fresh green matter (grass or fresh greens like spinach or mustard greens), protein in the form of live bugs (either found by foraging or you buy some live mealworms) and dirt to dust bathe (dust bathing is vital for chickens) in. The 'Let's all pick what's-her-name (or ourselves)' game can start out of boredom or overcrowding and continue as a learned bad habit. Give them something else to peck, like raw corn on the cob or a cabbage on a string (hang it high enough to avoid accidental strangulation but so they can still reach it, hanging it on a string allows it to swing around and be a challenge). Both provide food that takes time to eat, something to satisfy the pecking instinct, and entertainment that lasts for a while. Another thing to provide is vitamin E to help the itchy skin. Take one vitamin E capsule (the ones for humans, get it at the grocery store) and poke a hole in one end. Grab a chicken, open it's beak and squirt the oil in. Do this once or twice a week for a few weeks and it should help them stop picking themselves due to itchy, exposed skin and new feathers. Like I said, it sounds like more than one issue going on here, so if you try everything I suggest you should be able to alleviate a lot of it, if not solve it totally. Good luck! :) Velvet ~:>

Wonderful pictures!! I love that Vinca minor 'Ralph Shubert'

I am pretty sure that is the bird - Thank You! Here is a link that might be useful: spiritofplacesouthcarolina

Ditto what everyone else has said, I wouldn't be without one. You can also use it to make small batches of whipped cream. Great for those times when you just need a couple of servings and don't want to haul out the stand mixer. Saw a helpful note in Cooks Illustrated a few days ago that suggested dipping it in a small container of soapy water and giving it a pulse or two for easy cleaning. Kind of obvious, but somehow I hadn't thought of it before.