UNUSUAL FEATHER LOSS + BLOOD from 11 week old pullet

Recently, I'd discovered that only one of my pullet (out of 10) has this unusual thing at her back:



there seems to be blood (dried) at the holes (where the feather comes out). is this something that I need to panic about? Is it unusual (and why)?

A bit more information would help:

Where is the feather loss - at the base of the neck, or further down the back? (It is difficult to see on the photos you have posted)
Where is your bird on the pecking order - top, middle or bottom?
Have you found the missing feathers - if so, are they around where she roosts in the night, or elsewhere?
Do you have a rooster in the flock? (Over-enthusiastic roos can pull out feathers when they mount a bird)
Do your birds free-range to supplement their diet, and do they have unlimited access to feed (layer pellets or similar), or do you only feed them a certain amount each day?
Have you noticed your birds scratching themselves or pecking at each other more than usual?

Sorry for all the questions, but the more we know the more we will be able to offer you ideas and suggestions.

(Edited to correct my stupidity - I didn't pay attention to the fact that you mention that your pullet is only 11 weeks old in the title!)

KayTee said:

A bit more information would help:

Where is the feather loss - at the base of the neck, or further down the back? (It is difficult to see on the photos you have posted)
Where is your bird on the pecking order - top, middle or bottom?
Have you found the missing feathers - if so, are they around where she roosts in the night, or elsewhere?
Do you have a rooster in the flock? (Over-enthusiastic roos can pull out feathers when they mount a bird)
Do your birds free-range to supplement their diet, and do they have unlimited access to feed (layer pellets or similar), or do you only feed them a certain amount each day?
Have you noticed your birds scratching themselves or pecking at each other more than usual?

Sorry for all the questions, but the more we know the more we will be able to offer you ideas and suggestions.

(Edited to correct my stupidity - I didn't pay attention to the fact that you mention that your pullet is only 11 weeks old in the title!)

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Where is the feather loss - at the base of the neck, or further down the back? It is further down the back (bottom half)
Where is your bird on the pecking order - top, middle or bottom? I'm not sure how to distinguish that... but I don't see it getting into fights or get picked on
Have you found the missing feathers - if so, are they around where she roosts in the night, or elsewhere? there are feathers.... but not a lot (and if there is feathers... it is from other birds of slightly different coloured feathers)
Do you have a rooster in the flock? (Over-enthusiastic roos can pull out feathers when they mount a bird) I have rooster in the flock... but no over enthusiastic though... they are quite nice/good...
Do your birds free-range to supplement their diet, and do they have unlimited access to feed (layer pellets or similar), or do you only feed them a certain amount each day?I provide them NRM pellets enough for them.... I'll usually check up on them once in a few hours to change their water and refill their food if neccessary. but usually, they will still be sufficient food supply.
Have you noticed your birds scratching themselves or pecking at each other more than usual? No... they just fluff normally... and the flock i have, they are all 11 week old... i'd seen somewhere that molting is only for once they had grown up/started laying eggs?

That's what my chickens look like today 1 day after being attacked by a dog. He ripped out lots of feathers (their complete tails feathers and feathers on the back) and they bled when the came out. But I found hand fulls of feathers all over the place. If your chick is 11 weeks old you may not find the feather casue they are so small. Maybe something attacked it and it got away?

I would disinfect her skin to make sure she doesn't get infected or bug in the wound. And separate her for a bit to keep her safe, if it one of the other chickens, and just to keep on eye on her.

Do you have predators where you live?

The main causes of feather loss are moulting, parasites, lack of protein and damage from roosters. Your birds seem to be well fed, and if you don't see this bird being over-favoured by the rooster and no-one else is showing damage from being mounted then that only leaves parasites (which you would expect to see on the skin or around the other feathers, along with your birds scratching themselves a lot) and moulting.

It is true that the first main moult for a chicken is usually well after they start laying - a summer-born chick generally starts laying in the autumn / winter, and then moults the following autumn. However, chicks have to lose their feathers, and go through a couple of 'mini-moults' before they reach full adulthood. It could be that your girl is just losing lots of her feathers in one go, but I can't say that this explanation really sits well with me.

Hopefully someone else with more experience of something like this will see this post and be able to chime in with some ideas.

fairie said:

That's what my chickens look like today 1 day after being attacked by a dog. He ripped out lots of feathers (their complete tails feathers and feathers on the back) and they bled when the came out. But I found hand fulls of feathers all over the place. If your chick is 11 weeks old you may not find the feather casue they are so small. Maybe something attacked it and it got away?

I would disinfect her skin to make sure she doesn't get infected or bug in the wound. And separate her for a bit to keep her safe, if it one of the other chickens, and just to keep on eye on her.

Do you have predators where you live?

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I agree that a predator attack could well cause feather loss like that. Is it possible that something happened when you were away and your girls were out free-ranging?

My flock have recently suffered two attacks - one from a red kite and one from a dog. The kite attacked a mother hen with 2 chicks, and the area of missing feathers did look a lot like the patch on your girl. However, the attack was an extremely traumatic event for my birds - for the rest of the day they wouldn't come out from their hiding place under the terrace, not even for tinned sweetcorn, which is the equivalent of crack cocaine to a chicken! There were also a huge amount of feathers floating around the garden in the aftermath - I would be surprised if you hadn't noticed a change in behaviour of your flock or feathers on the ground following an attack like that.

Rats and Hawks?
but their coop is pretty much safe to keep away rats and hawks. I keep them inside their large house whenever I'm out and set them out venturing when I'm there supervising.
I'd checked whether there are any parasites around that area, but there seems to be none.

Also, if I were to disinfect it, what would I use?

I have something similar and am trying to figure out the cause and what to do. I am new to raising chickens. I have 6 hens, about 8 months old. One of the hens is bare around the base of her tail. All the other hens seem fine. I have never seen this one picked on by the others, but can't say for sure. I don't have a rooster, only hens.

achickennewbie said:

I have something similar and am trying to figure out the cause and what to do. I am new to raising chickens. I have 6 hens, about 8 months old. One of the hens is bare around the base of her tail. All the other hens seem fine. I have never seen this one picked on by the others, but can't say for sure. I don't have a rooster, only hens.

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I gave her a bath and then applied refined coconut oil on her after a week or so I'm seeing improvements and her new feathers are growing perfectly...
so you should give it a go!
Good luck~