Is there any reason other than broodiness to pluck breast feathers?

[deacons]

I have a Barred Rock hen who is probably around 2 years old (she was given to me as an adult by a neighbor, so not sure of her exact age). I have recently noticed grey feathers in the nest, and in her chest area, it is noticeable that some feathers have been plucked and she has some pin feathers coming in. I'd say I've been noticing this for about 2-3 weeks.

The weird thing though is that she doesn't seem broody to me. I certainly don't watch the chickens all day, but whenever I come or go from home during the day, I seem to notice her out in the run, not hidden away on the nest. She is not mean or "puffy" at all. She doesn't make the weird broody noises that I've seen before. But I can't imagine any other reason why the nest would be full of grey feathers- and she's the only one I have with grey feathers. What do you think?

 

[earlybird10842]

Sounds like she's molting in an odd spit, or somehow something happened to those feathers. If they are growing back, I don't think there's a problem.

 

[centrarchid]

My hens neither pick nor loose feathers as a function of going broody. Skin on breast becomes extremely stretchy to expose featherless patch. Feather loss could be caused by molt but this time of year it is likely due to stress. Stress can come from heavy lay while on bare bones nutrition or even parasites.

 

[deacons]

My hens neither pick nor loose feathers as a function of going broody. Skin on breast becomes extremely stretchy to expose featherless patch. Feather loss could be caused by molt but this time of year it is likely due to stress. Stress can come from heavy lay while on bare bones nutrition or even parasites.

Thanks for this. I don't have a lot of experience, but in everything I've read about broody hens, it's mentioned pulling out breast feathers to keep the eggs warm, so that's why I wondered if that was what was going on. I couldn't recall anything else I'd read about where losing feathers just in that area was a symptom. Also, I'm only finding her grey feathers collected in the one next box they all use to lay, so that's also what made me think it had something to do with broodiness.

I can't imagine any conceivable way it could be stress due to nutrition deficiency, as they eat a high quality layer pellet provided in multiple feeders, free range for 1-2 hours daily, and also receive vegetable/fruit scraps daily. I see her eat the pellets, so I know she's eating.

I'm doubting myself on the parasite thing though. I do check the girls over regularly for signs of lice/pests, but have never seen signs. However, the other hen I have that is the same age as this chicken has a strange patch on her back/base of tail with some feather loss too. These two came to me from a neighbor who had to rehome his chickens, so while I don't know their exact age, they had been laying for at least a few months when I got them in January of 2013- I would estimate them to be around 2 years old, but I guess there's a chance they could be closer to 3. Since I've had them, I've never seen them molt, so I don't know, could that be what's going on? I know it's not the right time of year, but still, I've never seen them go through it in the time I've had them. My 6 other hens all just turned a year old this week, and they don't have the same bald patches.

 

[centrarchid]

The metabolic demands of producing eggs is demanding, especially when done over a protracted length of time. If they have access to layer feed all the time and free range for only 1-2 hours daily then forages, quality in particular, may not be all that important especially if foraging is limited to the last hours of daylight..

The presence of feathers in the nest is very likely due to hen pulling them in from immediate vicinity of nest as the nest is constructed. This means feathers must be on the ground next to nest which is common in nesting area. The result is the concentration of feathers on actual nest bowl. I have nearly a dozen hens set over the last month and none had feathers in the nest. When I run the last cohort of broodies in July is when feathers will occur in the nest but there will not be that many.
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[donrae]

Did your neighbor use artificial lighting to encourage laying? I'm wondering if that could have delayed molting, and now they're trying to molt at this weird time? Are they still laying I guess is the key. If they're laying, they're not molting as a rule.

 

[annelions]

Could it be that the nest is not to your new chicken's liking? When there's not "enough" nest material (whatever "enough" is for a chicken), my chickens seem to leave some of their softer feathers around the nest. They're not molting, they're not bald, not broody and there's no real picking going on, so I just leave them be. My Welsummer seems to do this more than the others, but with two brown chickens it's REALLY hard to tell soft downy feathers apart. My Welsummer is also very, very picky about where her eggs get laid in the first place; the least bit of "danger" and she moves her nesting site. If she went broody with some fertile eggs, I have a feeling she'd either be the best mother (very caring) or worst (very flighty) ever.

 

[Fancychooklady]

She may be older than you think. Older chickens tend to molt in stages and sometimes incomplete. When the pin feathers start coming in she may have found it necessary to pluck those last ones out. Hormones can play tricks on you. So long as she is eating , drinking and bright eyed , I wouldn't let it worry you.

 

[deacons]

Just to clarify, these aren't chickens new to me- I got the specific one in question back in January of 2013. It's just that she came to me already laying, so I'm not completely sure of her age, but it's likely between 2-3 years old.

As to the molt question, she is laying, which I understand to mean that she's not molting, right? She probably lays 3-4 eggs a week.

As far as the nest, there are 3 nest boxes for 8 chickens. They all insist on using the one in question (the one with the feathers)- they will stand in line and wait for it, even though 2 others are available. BUT, now that I'm thinking about the nest more, one thing HAS changed since this started. A new local company started selling a product called "nest herbs," which are simply a dried blend of herbs that leave a fresh scent and supposedly promote calm, healthy flocks. I recently started sprinkling these herbs in the nests, and I wonder if that's actually making her uncomfortable? That would be an easy fix, I can just clean out the straw and replace it with fresh straw, minus the herbs. I think that's the next thing I'll try.

 

[donrae]

Okay, back to nutrition as a possible cause......even high quality layer feed is one of the lower protein chicken feeds. I think layer runs around 16% protein. Supplementing with fruit and veggies lowers her total protein percentage for the day. That could be offset some by what she finds free ranging, but I'm wondering if you just need to bump the protein a little. You could buy a bag of higher protein feed, like starter or grower or all-in-one, and try that. Or, supplement with meat, fish, beans, insects, etc to boost her intake.

If she way laying in Jan 13, I'd think she was a spring 12 chick. She should have taken a break from laying and molted around fall 13. It's pretty odd that she didn't.