Chickens attacking

[Meowkat148]

Novice chicken lady here. I've noticed over the last few weeks, my chickens are looking rough. One (or two?) are attacking the others. Many are missing butt feathers, and my little polish is missing some head feathers I noticed this morning. I'm not entirely sure which one (or two?) it is. I've narrowed it to two (maybe) possibilities. The 2 oldest are relatively unscathed. My silkie seems to have no injuries, and my rhode island MAY have an injury, but not sure. There have been no new additions, plenty of feed spots, and plenty of room, we free range on days I am home during the day, so boredom usually not a problem. I will be adding to my flock soon, with 18 weekers, and an 18 week rooster. Want to get it sorted out before hand. Any advice?

 

[ChickenGirl555]

Pick out your suspect bullies and put them in a cage in sight of your flock. Let them sit in there with food and water for a few days, letting them slowly slide down the pecking order. Soon they'll be in the middle and will have lost status as the big tough guy. This isn't 100% fool proof but it's worth a shot.

 

[50-45-1]

How many rooster do you have?
Could be aggressive over breeding by roosters.

If it s a feather picker, the only way to know which one is to pull up a lawn chair and watch. If you see the same bird pluck a feather 3 or 4 times you can be somewhat confident you have the right one.
It will likely be a chicken with no missing feathers.

Realy the only way to know what is going on is to watch them when you are home.
I am particulary concearned about your polish. I have had chickens bloody the head of one of my polish so bad they opened a wound that took months to grow the feathers in again.
Good luck