Aggression or molting or both?

[colospgs]

Backstory: About 10 weeks ago one of my BOs began just sitting around instead of the usual standing and walking (In the run and free ranging). It was hot so I didn't think much about it. Then about two weeks ago she started to lose feathers on her rear end, lower back, sides, and some on her neck. Molting, I figured. At this point she really seemed uncomfortable. Then the bare skin, on the lower back especially, invited aggression from the dominant hen which opened a wound. That then invited aggression from the other three hens. I believe she would have been pecked to death if I hadn't isolated her from the rest it was so relentless.

So after about 4-5 days in isolation she seems happier, but there are no feathers in the area where she is, and no eggs either. I expected the rest to fall out, but nothing. So now we're in a holding pattern here where I have no idea what's happening. Molting process? Aggression only? Illness? I've attached some photos.

Other facts: 5 hens in flock, various breeds; All hens are under 3 years old; TSC coop with attached 36 foot run for total run area of about 50SF. Modified roosting setup for more room; I checked for lice, parasites but saw none but that doesn't mean there are none I'm new at that.

 

[Rose the Legbar]

How much % of protein does your feed contain? If it is the 16% layer feed, then they could be plucking her feathers due to needing more protein in their diet. The other problem or an added problem could be amount of space they have. For 5 hens, those tractor supply premade coop is much too small. It could also be boredom picking and she is the lowest on the totem pole so she is being picked snd cant get away easily.

 

[FrostRanger]

I 100% agree with @Rose the Legbar. That coop and run are much too small for 5 chickens. For a group of 5 you'll want a bare minimum of 20sqft of coop space with 5 linear sqft of ventilation and 50sqft of run space total. More is preferable, especially since you have issues with aggression (and I'd up ventilation to 10-15 sqft if you're in an especially hot climate). The general rule of thumb is 4sqft of coop space, 1-3sqft of ventilation and 10sqft of run space per bird at a minimum, hence where the numbers I gave you came from. I also would up protein to 20%, easiest way to do that is to feed an all flock and have oyster shell on the side to provide extra calcium. Once you do all that, keep the bullied hen in a crate in the run for a week or 2 to integrate her back, if they're still bothering her you may need to invest in pinless peepers for the flock or look into rehoming her

 

[colospgs]

Can you tell from the photos if this is a molting situation? It looks like it on the sides and back of the neck. But if it is, it stopped as soon as I isolated her.

 

[FrostRanger]

Can you tell from the photos if this is a molting situation? It looks like it on the sides and back of the neck. But if it is, it stopped as soon as I isolated her.

It sounds more like feather picking than molting IMO

 

[colospgs]

UPDATE: After she's been in isolation for over a month, she's mostly grown the feathers back. After a week of re-joining the flock here's her unusual behaviors: 1. Still sitting around a lot, no enthusiasm for free ranging; 2. Comb and wattle do not seem as red as before (compare picture below to the ones above); 3. Will not climb ladder to roost at night.

There's still some minor bullying but nothing like before so I'm not too worried about that anymore. But what's up with these other behaviors? BTW, she hasn't laid an egg in several months.