Help! Came home to pile of feathers and bald spot

[HollywoodCluck]

Came home today and one of my silkies somehow lost massive feathers. There were her feathers all over the run and when i looked at her, there was a bald spot on her upper back and tops of wings. A very very big one.

I've never seen pecking in my flock before, but just let a broody bird out of solitary. Maybe she was re-establishing herself in the flock? I also have a younger bird (3 months?) and maybe she was finding her place... If it was an attack, it had to be a bad one.

Anyway, she's my favorite chicken... it made me sad. Thoughts?

 

[ten chicks]

Came home today and one of my silkies somehow lost massive feathers. There were her feathers all over the run and when i looked at her, there was a bald spot on her upper back and tops of wings. A very very big one.

I've never seen pecking in my flock before, but just let a broody bird out of solitary. Maybe she was re-establishing herself in the flock? I also have a younger bird (3 months?) and maybe she was finding her place... If it was an attack, it had to be a bad one.

Anyway, she's my favorite chicken... it made me sad. Thoughts?

Try and find the bully,sometimes fancy birds are susceptible to bullying as they look different. If you can figure out who it was,separate the offender for a couple of days,this should help re-establish pecking order. If your silkie was injured,keep her separate until wounds heal,otherwise she will be attacked again and this time it may result in dire consequences. Have all your birds been together for awhile or has the silkie been a recent addition?

 

[feather13]

We inherited two pullets--a Red Star and a Cornish. The Cornish is very skittish and was picked on a lot by the Speckled Sussex. I'm pretty sure the Sussex attacked the Cornish and plucked out all her head feathers. She wasn't bleeding badly, but was bald, so I separated them for a few days. The feathers have all grown back now and while the Cornish is low on the pecking order, she is fine and isn't bullied anymore. I'm hoping your problem is temporary too! Good luck! It's especially hard when the one picked on is a favorite.

 

[HollywoodCluck]

Thanks for the advice. The chickens have all been together since they were chicks-- about 8 months. No incidents ever before.
My chicken isn't acting hurt and I dont really see any real damage besides feather loss. Should I still separate her? Or just see how it goes over the next couple days?

 

[feather13]

I was also thinking that it's possible she's molting. My chickens have been molting and their feathers are *everywhere*! When I first saw all the feathers, my heart sank because I thought they'd been attacked. I don't see any bald spots on them, but it you don't see bullying behavior, there isn't blood/dried blood near the bald spots, and you've checked for parasites/medical stuff, then maybe she's just molting. I've noticed that my hens generally act really skittish around any bullies, so you might just want to spend ten minutes and observe how they're acting with each other. If she's molting, I don't think there's much to do except wait it out and rake up all those feathers! Best of luck to you!