Bare skin broody hen/ molt, mites, attentive rooster?

[lhutch78]

Meet Francesca. I have had her since September & she went broody a few weeks ago so we decided to let her sit. We have candled some of her eggs & everything appears to be developing nicely. We expect chicks around April 15th. We are so excited to be expecting for the 1st time. She acted fine before being broody. With her being in a box we noticed when she hissed & fluffed this bare spot on her. Any suggestions?

My other hens appear healthy & are missing some wing feathers, I was thinking they were molting. There are only 3 hens out of 11 that appear to be missing some feathers and appear scraggly. This is my 1st flock so any advise is helpful.

 

[redirtchickens]

I would look for lice or mites. Pick up there feathers and look to see if you see tiny bugs running around. You could also put that DE on her to see if that helps. Best of luck to you. Pretty chicken