Is my chicken molting or being picked on?

[itsfun2save]

Hello! I am new to raising chickens. Recently one of my girls started missing feathers around her neck within the last three weeks, getting worst as time went on. I am trying to determine if she is starting to molt or if she is being picked on. Added pics, please help! She is under a year old.

 

[cary 1973]

are there any pin feathers with insight with the missing feathers are cuz you should be able to see pin feathers if shes molting.it looks to me like there's pin feathers in there so I would say she is melting but let's see what other people think

 

[itsfun2save]

I checked her and I do see some pins that have feather tips on the end. There is also a small area that is bare skinned too on one side of the neck. No visible injuries to the area other than being exposed. I appreciate the feedback! Is there sometimes a small area of visible skin during molting too?

 

[itsfun2save]

The small area with bare skin can be seen in the third pic.

 

[cary 1973]

last year my little bit chicken look tore up from the floor up during her there was there are spots there she was just tore up from the floor up so yes bear spots can be a part of molding

 

[aart]

How old is she?
Do you have a rooster?

In the first pic, it looks like maybe some new pin feathers coming near the top of the bare area?
But down lower in same pic almost looks like broken feathers, maybe from picking?

The rest of her body doesn't look like an molting is going on.
If a feather is bitten or broken off, it won't regrow until a molt happens.....
.....if a feather is completely plucked out of the skin, which can happen in a picking or rooster situation, it will regrow pretty quickly.

 

[itsfun2save]

Thank you for your feedback! She is about eight months old. She is laying. No rooster but I do have one chicken that acts like Queen bee! I need to check her again to see if I see any broken feathers.

 

[itsfun2save]

It is a picking on situation. I went to feed them this morning and saw more feathers missing with tiny blood spots on the skin. I have removed her from the coop until her feathers grow back. Thanks!

 

[aart]

I'd check for mites/lice....and might be better to remove the bird picking on her.