Broken feathers?

[catinthecoop]

So we have 4, one year old hens. A few weeks ago we noticed some broken feathers on our Silver Laced Wyandotte. They were all located above her tail, now she's got them on her chest too. There don't appear to be any missing feathers, just these broken off ends. Today we are seeing some of the same thing, broken off feather ends on our EE too. To save some trouble: we don't have a rooster and we do not free range our hens except under strict supervision. (We aren't supposed to free range, they only go out of the run if we are literally standing over them. Never had a case of any of them disappearing/reappearing or anything like that. ) We've checked for evidence of mites, and mice, nothing that we can find. She is still laying. I haven't seen anybody else plucking her feathers, she's the bossiest of the bunch but they all get along pretty well. We checked her preen gland, looks normal. Skin looks ok too. Nothing red/inflamed. I'm stumped. So what could cause this?

 

[A.M. Eggs]

Is it windy where you live? I would not freak out about broken feathers too much. It, for me, is a natural occurrence and can happen when a hen is grooming, fighting, taking a dirt bath, or, as the case with my rooster, the wind can sometimes break them. If she is not appearing to act funny or has any strange problems, she should be fine. Losing feathers is normal for outdoor chickens.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Feathers start to break down a bit as the season goes on. It could be from nestbox rubbing, or going through a doorway. It doesn't look like anything I would worry about.

 

[catinthecoop]

She molted over winter, but I don't know if she did a full molt, she was the last of the three that did. Is it possible she didn't do a full molt and these are 'old' feathers?
It has been pretty windy, and while we tried to take advantage of the pine trees as a wind block, we couldn't get the coop too close, due to all the requirements.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

If she's a year old than her feathers are getting older. She will molt in the fall. I see that breaking down of the feather structure more with Orpingtons but it can happen to any breed.

The other option is there is some picking, or one of your hens is fake mating them occasionally which can happen without a rooster.

 

[catinthecoop]

If she's a year old than her feathers are getting older. She will molt in the fall. I see that breaking down of the feather structure more with Orpingtons but it can happen to any breed.

The other option is there is some picking, or one of your hens is fake mating them occasionally which can happen without a rooster.

Ok, thanks. I just didn't want this to be something that went from 'oh that's odd' to 'omg now something is REALLY wrong.'