Half an EE muff gone? UPDATED w/ PICS pg 2

[CityGirlintheCountry]

So I noticed this morning that one side of my EE's muff is missing. There's a bald patch where the feathers should be. The other side looks fine. That EE is the lowest on the pecking order in that coop. Is it possible that someone plucked them out?
It doesn't look like there's any blood or anything. Should I do anything about it or just wait for it to grow back in?

Right about when I think I have them figured out, they pull something new. Sigh.

 

[keeperofthehearth]

Oh so sorry to hear your EE lost half her muff.

You may have a feather picker on your hands. Watch your EE and try to see where she is sleeping etc. I have an EE who had the prettiest muffs, just huge, and one day, poof, one side mostly missing, then over the next week or so completely picked off and then the other side. She wasn't even the lowest in the pecking order just below my best broody who turned out to also be my muff picker. She just didn't like those muffs on Muffy!

I rehomed the muff picker & now that Muffy is molting hope to see those pretty puffy muffs again. Funny thing is, my muff picker didn't seem to pick on anyone else that I could tell but you never know if not Muffy then mayhap she would have picked on one of the other EE's.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Hmmmmm... I'll have to start paying attention to who's roosting next to who. I have a second run I can move her to if need be.

Thanks for the help!

 

[speckledhen]

How old is she? Two of my Ameraucanas are basically beardless due to molting.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

They are all around 27 weeks old. Will they molt this year too? They've already gone through the adolescent molt. Am I going to have nekkid chickens just in time for our first good freeze?
Dummies...

 

[speckledhen]

LOL, yep, I have nekkid birds! All through their first year, they molt in little bits while getting the adult plumage. You could have a plucker, though.

 

[clarkestep]

Ummmm..... could she be your rooster's favorite gal? This has just happened with one of my girls. Just the day before yesterday I noticed that she had been pecked on her comb along the head line. Yesterday some of her head/cheek feathers had been plucked out and then right in front of me, the rooster jumped her and held her down head to the ground and mated her. And I thought he was still innocent (and her too, but she didn't look like a willing participant). My 'babies' are 22 weeks today. And none of the girls had laid eggs until THIS MORNING. Actually, the only one who laid this morning was the rooster's gal. I guess he knew she was ready? It was a cute little ol egg!

Anyway, maybe this is what is going on with your hen.

 

[Must Be Losing It]

I have a brearded silkie who's not too bearded right now due to molting. Kind of funny looking actually. I think you have the same thing happening.

 

[lauralou]

Are you noticing lots of feathers in the coop in the mornings?

A couple of my girls, Smoke and Ginger, are definitely molting. And maybe some of the others. I see lots of blue feathers in the coop. Surely they can't all belong to Smoke. The molting caught my attention at about 30 weeks, but it was probably going on a bit before that. I just wasn't looking for it in the young girls. I didn't expect that they would molt this autumn.

I hope that's what it is, and that you don't have an evil feather plucker. Your chickens aren't overcrowded, and you have nice breeds, so hopefully feather plucking isn't your problem.

Fingers crossed that she is molting, and will soon regrow her pretty face feathers.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

I'm seeing random little fluffy feathers in the banty coop, but nobody is looking scraggley. Well, except for my one-muffed EE. I never see the roo in there doing the deed with anyone, but the eggs in that coop are fertile so apparently he's just circumspect with his attentions.
Dang. I need a chicken cam in that coop to spy on their behavior. Everybody is agreeable when I'm out there with them. I hope nobody is picking on her. Mattie's a sweetie!

And if she is molting I must say that it is highly unfair that she is molting without ever having laid an egg. Little brat! Direct your attentions down and out, pal! Forget the hairdo. I want eggs!!!