Chickens losing feathers around neck

[Sarae89]

I have four ladies, Golden Comments, who are about a year old. I got them full grown about a month ago, and I noticed three of the four have lost a small patch of feathers around the same place on their necks. Their behavior seems normal, they're alert, active and scratching around and laying eggs normally. I checked for visible signs of lice and did not see any, the skin appears to be normal color. I'm not sure if the more aggressive of the hens was picking on the others - as she is the only chicken not missing any feathers.



Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated, I'm a brand new chicken owner.

Thanks!

 

[Eggcessive]

That just looks like feather picking, probably by another chicken, perhaps the one who is not missing feathers. Around 16-18 months of age, they will probably start molting, but that doesn't look like molting yet. Feather picking can become a habit if they are bored, overcrowded, or not getting outside to roam. They also need at least 16% protein in their diet, but 20% is good when they are eating feathers. I see this in my flock, but only on a couple of birds. It just happens sometimes.

 

[Sarae89]

Makes sense to me, I expanded their run recently so I'm hopeful that'll solve things. Thank you so much for your reply.

 

[Eggcessive]

You're welcome.