7 mo. old Ameracauna may be sick

[Lauren Evans]

Hi everyone! I am new to this site and in my first year of sharing our homestead with chickens and ducks. I have 6 hens and 2 ducks- all of different breeds. My problem is that my Ameracauna, Marta, is looking rather ratty lately. She seems to be missing some feathers around her head and in her beautiful scarf as well as some of her tail feathers. Unfortunately, she has always been skittish and is the only one of my girls that I am unable to handle. I check my other girls often and see no signs of mites or lice or anything like that. Marta does tend to be more of a loner than the other girls and will just as likely be by herself on the other side of the garden than with the group. I believe she is pretty low on the pecking order, but have never witnessed any harassment of any kind towards her from the rest of the girls. She also has not laid for quite some time. I have heard that Ameracaunas do tend to sometimes take long breaks from laying, so it didn't concern me until recently. She seems to be eating/drinking/foraging/pooping/etc. normally. She is also the only one who looks at me with murder in her eyes..... any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

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[junebuggena]

She's an Easter Egger, not Ameraucana. And she looks like she's doing a partial molt. I've got an 8 month old Easter Egger that looks awful at the moment. Keep the protein up, and hopefully she'll be feathered back in and laying soon.

 

[Leihamarie]

They can go through a mini-molt at around 9 months old. It sounds like this is what's happening with your girl, if a bit early. Especially if she's not laying and otherwise healthy. Chickens don't lay during molts since it takes all their energy to form new feathers. She should be fine. Just make sure she is otherwise healthy and it may be a good idea to weigh her to get a baseline and check every couple of weeks to make sure she's not losing weight.