Red bottom, missing feathers, no sign of pecking

[tallmountain]

hi BYC - so grateful for this site and community as we're now 2 years into our own backyard chickens. Love it.

Got a new hen last year (a medici), she's clearly lowest on pecking order. Past month or two have seen this red area on her bottom persisting, with feathers missing. I've never seen her or other hens pecking at her there, and it's been a cold winter here so I don't suspect mites though we did have them in the warmer weather.

No sign of issues on other hens. This one does lay odd/large eggs regularly with fairly fragile shells.

Generally she eats, pecks and seems to have normal behavior other than being lowest on pecking order so she waits her turn to eat.

Would welcome any advice about diagnosing this and recommended help for the gal. photos attached. thank you!

 

[Eggcessive]

I would guess that another hen or maybe herself is pulling out her feathers. They do this sometimes on the roost in the evening, or when they are bored, have too little room, or not getting enough protein. If you see feathers in the coop, that is usually a sign of molting. You could try a bad tasting cream such as Nustock or pine tar to discourage pecking until she heals. Sometimes lost feathers don’t grow back until the next molt.