Molting, stress or hen pecking

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SillyRooster

SillyRooster

Chirping
5 Years
Dec 18, 2014
49
3
54
Massachusetts
My Coop
My Coop
Is this molting, hen pecking or stress?
Our sex link Snowball is looking rough. Bare or broken feathers on her wings & chest.

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Her wing feathers are bare in places.

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Last edited:
She may be over-preening due to stress, it doesn't look like aggression from other hens since it is around the chest area. Do you have a roo in with her? Make sure she is getting enough calcium such as oyster shell. She may just be getting ready to molt. Hoping for improvement!

Regards,
Leaf
 
LeafBlade12345 said:
Could be that he is picking on her, but I'm thinking molting. Do you have a source of calcium supplement in there for them? Do you know how high she is on the "pecking order"? Hoping for the best!

Regards,
Leaf
Click to expand...


Hey there. We do add crushed oyster shells to their food. She's definitely on the lower end of the pecking order that I can tell. The other chickens perch on the roost but she sleeps in a nest box.

When we bought her at the local farm, they were all in big tent/hut thing with no perches only nest boxes, but the other hens we bought that day all sleep on the perch.
 
SillyRooster said:
The other hens we got that day had some patchy spots on their chests too but nothing like Snowball.
Click to expand...


I'm guessing that they were in overcrowded conditions where Snowball was constantly picked on, most probably while sitting in the nest box. Originally it didn't sound like abuse from other hens because of the location of the picked feathers, but it fits together now. Make sure she gets extra calcium and watch her carefully. If you see other hens bothering her, you may have to either remove her from the pen or remove the main "problem hen" whom is the root of the problem. I wouldn't be surprised if they sort of get a pack mentality and all gang up on her though. Good luck and keep us updated!

Regards,
Leaf
 

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