Hen being pecked/ sick or molting?

[Fuhrwick]

Hello. I’m fairly new to keeping chickens having had my flock of 7 for about a year and a half. I have one Easter Egger who has been with the flock since the beginning and has always done very well with them. She is very tiny but never has been picked on. When I went outside yesterday I noticed that all her tail feathers were missing and there were some broken blood feathers. Then I saw one of our barred rocks pecking at her. I don’t know why they would turn on her out of nowhere but I separated her from the group and have her in a dog kennel in our garage right now. When I went out today to check on her I noticed a lot of feathers are laying in the kennel. Would she be molting this time of year? Or is she sick? I did notice her losing some feathers recently but just thought she might be molting. The poor thing looks rough.

 

[Skippersnh]

i bet she is just molting

 

[Fuhrwick]

i bet she is just molting

Ok. She did stop laying a few weeks ago too. Do you think I should pull the broken blood tail feathers and put her back in with the group? I’m worried she will continue to be picked on

 

[Eggcessive]

If the blood feathers are actively bleeding, then, yes, pull them with pliers. If they are not, leave them. It does sound like she is molting. Barred rocks sometimes are a bit more agressive, but most hens when molting are unusually timid because they may feel lousy. I would put her back and watch the behavior. The best way to separate is inside the coop in a dog crate, where they still see each other.

 

[Fuhrwick]

If the blood feathers are actively bleeding, then, yes, pull them with pliers. If they are not, leave them. It does sound like she is molting. Barred rocks sometimes are a bit more agressive, but most hens when molting are unusually timid because they may feel lousy. I would put her back and watch the behavior. The best way to separate is inside the coop in a dog crate, where they still see each other.

Thank you! I believe she is molting. Yesterday I pulled the 2 broken blood feathers and put pick-no-more cover up lotion on her backend and put her back in the run. I watched for a while and no one pecked at her. I bet the barred rock was just pecking because of the blood that had come from the broken feathers. There were no wounds.

 

[Eggcessive]

That is great. Hopefully problem solved.