Missing feathers on back and neck

[Enpury]

Hi. I picked up Karen a few days ago and was told she is 2 1/2. She is missing feathers on her back and neck and her previous owner said the other chickens were aggressive and pulled out her feathers. Has anyone come across this before? Or maybe this is something else. Ideas of what this could be?

 

[Eggcessive]

Did the previous owner have a rooster? It looks like she has been feather picked, but the areas could also mean overbreeding by a rooster. She may have been low in the pecking order, and that may be why they rehomed her. Sometimes people have too many chickens in too small of an area, and they pick on each other. You should look her over for any lice or mites, consider worming her, and keep her quarantined for about 30 days if possible, to make sure that she is not having symptoms of any illness. That is pretty routine when bringing in a new addition to the flock.

 

[MinnPeeps]

Yes, the previous owner could be correct. Chickens can be aggressive toward each other at times. This behavior could be related to boredom, among other things. Or this could come from an aggressive Rooster mounting.

 

[Enpury]

Did the previous owner have a rooster? It looks like she has been feather picked, but the areas could also mean overbreeding by a rooster. She may have been low in the pecking order, and that may be why they rehomed her. Sometimes people have too many chickens in too small of an area, and they pick on each other. You should look her over for any lice or mites, consider worming her, and keep her quarantined for about 30 days if possible, to make sure that she is not having symptoms of any illness. That is pretty routine when bringing in a new addition to the flock.

I’m not sure if the previous owner had a rooster. She did mention that she got rid of the more aggressive birds. We actually took three hens from the previous owner. We didn’t see any mites or lice on her or the other two hens. If this is a case of being feather picked - are the anti-feather picking sprays the best route to go?