Any idea why this is happening.

[3KillerBs]

The 4/10 'rule' is bare minimum, IMO.
Especially in a colder climate without a large(15-20sqft per bird)weather proof run.
@3KillerBs maybe add this info to your space blurb?

Yes, that's a good idea.

I'm considering making an article with the areas illustrated to help people visualize them.

 

[britinpa]

Do the nests stick out the side or are they fully inside the coop?

If fully inside that reduces the usable floor space.

Longer daylight has birds being more active. I have seen behavior change with onset of spring laying and longer days.

The nesting boxes are on the outside of the coop. I did wonder about the longer days, but thought that would be a positive thing for them - I suppose more waking hours is more time for them to bother each other!

 

[21hens-incharge]

The nesting boxes are on the outside of the coop. I did wonder about the longer days, but thought that would be a positive thing for them - I suppose more waking hours is more time for them to bother each other!

The longer days and all the hormone changes that happen this time of year can really mess with the pecking order.

 

[KaseySnow]

It could be also that she's plucking the feathers herself and eating them. Might want to watch her and see if you can catch her gobbling down loose feathers, even off of the ground. If so, I believe that's a protein deficiency as someone else stated.

 

[sourland]

Most common cause for such feather loss is feather pecking/plucking by flock mates. Generally it is initiated in the winter due to crowding and boredom.

 

[britinpa]

Most common cause for such feather loss is feather pecking/plucking by flock mates. Generally it is initiated in the winter due to crowding and boredom.

This has only occurred over the last week or so - Spring is well and truly here - I would have expected it to be common in Winter, but not so in this instance, and they're not really overcrowded. They don't have toys in their run, but they do have a swing and a few roosts and a couple of tree trunks to perch. Maybe I need to make it a bit more exciting for them. At the moment there's bugs to be had and they spend some of their day digging in the composting wood chips in their run. I don't get a sense that they are picking at each other while in the coop overnight as there are rarely any feathers to be found in there the next morning.

 

[KaseySnow]

Do you have a more dominant hen who is mounting or attacking this one frequently, perhaps?

And it's kinda weird that you don't see any feathers on the ground in the coop. There should be at least some? If there's none or very few then she may very well be eating them.

 

[britinpa]

It could be also that she's plucking the feathers herself and eating them. Might want to watch her and see if you can catch her gobbling down loose feathers, even off of the ground. If so, I believe that's a protein deficiency as someone else stated.

I haven't caught her doing it so far. I buy 16% layer feed which seems to be the standard layer feed - I guess I just need to supplent it

 

[britinpa]

Do you have a more dominant hen who is mounting or attacking this one frequently, perhaps?

And it's kinda weird that you don't see any feathers on the ground in the coop. There should be at least some? If there's none or very few then she may very well be eating them.

As far as I can tell up to this point she hasn't been lowest in the pecking order - she's one of my bigger girls. It's possible I guess though that one of the others could be picking at her, or that she is doing it to herself. I do find a feather here and there outside when I rake the woodchips in their run.

 

[NatJ]

I haven't caught her doing it so far. I buy 16% layer feed which seems to be the standard layer feed - I guess I just need to supplent it

You can use chick starter (higher protein.)

It is fine for laying hens, as long as they have a separate dish of oyster shell for calcium. (Laying hens need more calcium than baby chicks.)

Laying hens can eat just chick starter, or some chick starter and some layer feed.

If you want to feed some chick starter and some layer feed, I would leave one kind available all the time, and serve the other wet in a dish each day. The chickens seem to like it better with water added, so they will gobble that down, and then eat some of the dry food at other times.