Hen scratching & plucking her own neck feathers?

[TiniDucky]

Hi all! I have a funny situation with one of my Araucana hens.

For the second season in a row, she seems to be plucking out her own neck feathers. They regrew after her molt this season, and she was nicely feathered for just a month or so before she started doing it again. Also, this hen is currently having issues with laying soft-shelled eggs at night off of the roost. Sheesh.

Here are some details about the situation:

• I have a backyard flock of four.
• They have plenty of space in the hen house and free range in a big yard all-day.
• No rooster.
  
  On the Feather Issue:
• I have never seen any of the other hens pick on her. She's low - but not at the bottom - in the pecking order.
• I have checked her over and over for mites... none to be seen. I treated all hens and the coop last season. No change. Although this remains on the table as a possibility. Any advice here would be great if you think this might be the problem.
• I HAVE seen her (many times) aggressively preening her own neck. See the pic of her neck. This is the look she sports 3/4 of the year. It's not molting. She makes a very low grumble noise when preening her neck. Like the noise one would make if you were scratching a good itch! It would be funny if she didn't look so pitiful!
  
  On the Egg Issue:
• They eat a balanced organic layer feed, but as mentioned... may not eat a lot because of the free range thing.
• I give them mealworms as treats every day to get them into the coop - but nothing excessive.
• I give them free-choice oyster shells and plain yogurt as a treat for calcium. Hasn't seemed to help her eggs.
• Poultry Cell in the water, at the moment.
• A persistently broody hen took over the fave nesting box (they have three accessible) for three weeks or so when the egg issue started. Wondering if this stress threw her off?
• She acts totally normal otherwise! Very healthy seeming. Eats, scratches, dustbathes, etc.

Hmm... that's all I can think of. Any thoughts on either of these issues? I am stumped!

 

[sourland]

It is very likely that another bird is feather pecking/plucking her. It would be impossible for her to peck the side of her face and the back of her head.

 

[TiniDucky]

It is very likely that another bird is feather pecking/plucking her. It would be impossible for her to peck the side of her face and the back of her head.

Thanks for responding! Could she scratch them off? I caught her aggressively scratching her neck and assumed that was how it was happening. I'm not writing off the fact that the others might be pecking her (especially at night), but I have never seen it.