Bald Chicken

[MoroneSaxatilis]

Hello everyone, first time poster.

I have a flock of 12 ladies, black australorps, barred rocks, golden and silver laced wyandottes. They are about 15 months old. We have a coop, an outdoor enclosure, dust baths, and allow the girls to free range for several hours per day. We have one black australorp who has a bald head and a bald patch on her chest. Her head is not bloody, but flushes bright red if she's in the dust bath (since she is rubbing her head). We stripped the coop and treated for mites once, but werent sure if that was the cause because none of the rest of the flock are having the issue. This lady is about the middle of the pack, she is not the low man or the top girl in the pecking order, she seems to be about in the middle. We aren't having any health issues with any of the group outside of this baldness. Pictures below, I have included some of the other girls as well to show their appearance compared to hers.

Any ideas what it could be?

 

[theoldchick]

I have one like this, too. The other hens pull her out of the nest box by the feathers on her head. She's going to be relocated to another coop to see if she can grow her feathers back.

 

[MoroneSaxatilis]

Oh that's interesting, I hadnt even considered that, thank you.

 

[Swbertrand1]

Looks like she's getting her feathers pecked (picked) out by other hens - not uncommon. You seem to know where she fits in the pecking order, but have you watched them when they go up at night?
If conditions are a bit crowded in the coop, a hen lower (not necessarily the lowest) in the pecking order can get bullied as one hen or another wants to take her roost just because she can, or just pick on her out of habit.
In the close quarters of a coop, the pecking is sometimes more severe and can occur more often because the bullied hen can't as easily move away from the threat. Sadly, the head is an easy target...
If bullying is the case, you can move the bullied hen out of the coop for a few days OR move the bullies out, whatever works to take the focus off the hen that's getting picked on.
Good luck.