Bare feather tips?

Jeffross1968

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Below are a couple pictures of one of my not-yet-laying hens. We've noticed lately that there are feather tips with no plumage (is that the word) on her head and neck. We had two brown leghorns we had to cull recently who had the same thing. They had both been sickly for a while. This hen seems perfectly healthy, is probably just now about 18-20 weeks old, and hopefully will lay soon!

Is this an issue? What exactly am I looking at?

91792_102_7945.jpg

91792_102_7950.jpg
 
That's just new feathers growing in. They are covered with a keratin sheath until they are grown out. It will crumble off, and a full feather will emerge.


ETA: it's like thin fingernail material. Crumbles easily. If you are holding a chicken, you can even crumble it between your fingertips.
 
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