It’s a bit reassuring that I’m not the only one (more like my hen isn’t the only one) experiencing this.
To answer your question about laying, my hen has been laying like usual, even with the patches. Is this good or bad?
Recently, I’ve noticed that my hen has been losing feathers on both sides of her wings (in the picture shown). From a quick Google search about molting, the sources that I’ve read said that chickens usually only molt near the end of summer - autumn. Is there something potentially wrong with my hen?