Help with diagnosis, please!

[meg2566]

We are having an issue with two of our RIRs and one EE. With the RIRs (pic below) it appears their feathers on the wing are wearing down and white poofy weathers are growing around the body. Not all my RIRS have the poofy feathers (10 total) so I assume it is not molting, but I may be wrong. What about the wing issue?
On my EE, she is missing all her feathers on the under-side of her neck and a lot on her back, just above the tail feathers. Is she being pecked to death? If so, we cannot determine who is doing the pecking. All seem to get along just fine.

One last question, occassionally we find a fertilized egg. For the life of us, we cannot determine who is the rooster. All seem to have a 4th claw, so this is no help. No one stands out as obvious in looks as a rooster and we cannot catch anyone chicken making rooster sounds. How can we figure this out?

Lost in Golden, Colorado . . . .

 

[krazycow6]

They look like my buff..she is very fluffy near her saddle feathers...Hubby says she may be getting ready to molt

 

[Backyard Hencam]

It sounds to me like your hens are beginning to moult. Have they moulted before? How old are they? My EE moulted at 7 mos. Some still haven't molded at 12 months. The normal time is between one year and 18 mos.

 

[meg2566]

The RIR is about 12 months old so moulting may be correct. I think the EE is just getting pecked at by someone???

 

[Cindiloohoo]

What makes you think you have fertilized eggs if you don't have a roo? Sometimes they will look fertile but they aren't...maybe that's it?