Chicken going bald? Not molting

[motherhenfran]

My 13 month old black australorp has always been at the bottom of the pecking order. When she was younger I realized she must have a problem with her eyesight (her pecks were never "straight on" to where the food was). The last couple weeks I've noticed her neck feathers were thinning out and I finally got her to hold still and saw the skin on her neck is extremely wrinkled with no feather follicles (unless there is a feather). One of my other girls molted on the winter but her new feathers pushed out the old ones therefore no "naked" or bald neck showing so I'm condused to what could be happening to my black australorp. Her health is great and her diet consists on greens, layer crumbles, seeds, meal worms, fruit and whatever she can find in the backyard grazing so I'm not worried about a lack of nutrients.

Has anyone seen anything like this? It's as if her neck is going bald. Here's a few pictures.

 

[Eggcessive]

She may just be getting her feathers pecked out by chickens higher in the pecking order. Mak e sure they are getting at least 16% protein layer feed, getting outside daily to free range, and have plenty of room in their coop to prevent over crowding. Sometimes this just happens, especially with chickens who have beards or muffs.

 

[motherhenfran]

She doesn't have a beard but not that you mention is- my easter egger did get a portion of her beard and cheek feathers pecked off. All my girls free range for most of the day and when they are in the coop they have ample room. 5 girls in a 18x10 foot space that's got lots of toys and things to play with and keep them from getting bored. I figured it just might be a normal occurrence where her feathers fall out. Similar to early balding in humans? Her temperament is upbeat so I'm guessing it's just a bald patch and nothing more serious

 

[Eggcessive]

That is way more than enough room. You can always try some bad tasting creams on the bald areas--something like Nustock, BagBalm, or antipick lotion that will allow the feathers to come back.

 

[motherhenfran]

We've got bag balm. I'll try some on her. She doesn't seem to mind..she's an avid sunbather and loves to stretch out her neck feathers and get alittle sun. Now that she's alitle bald Id imagine she could get sunburnt if she spends too much time sunning herself. Any suggestions for chicken sunscreen?

 

[deerladysmom]

I have one who had a very hard molt over the winter and then got all her feathers in. Suddenly, she has a bald butt, not apparent reason for this. The other three chickens with her are fine, no lice or mites and keep their coop very clean. They have adequate room in the enclosure but also get free range time. Finally have decided that possibly the others are pecking at the red bottom so have been putting some pickfree stuff on it and hope that does the trick. Fortunately this is my gentlest hen who allows me to pick her up and check her as needed and apply the stuff to her bottom. Other than that, she is eating well, socializing well, laying regularly and has no other symptoms.