Is this chicken being picked on?

[Chickchick121]

Is this chicken being picked on? Looks like there is a bald spot and barely any tail. About 16 weeks old.

 

[azygous]

There are other reasons for feather loss than bullying and feather picking. The only way to know if bullying is occurring is to observe your flock for a few hours some afternoon. If it's feather picking, you will want to observe to identify the picker.

Rooster mating, depluming feather mites, poor diet, conflicts over roosting space in the evening, and environmental hazards can all contribute to depluming. Look at the balding areas to see if a uniform emergence of pin feathers is present. This could be an unscheduled molt. I have one eight-month old going through a first complete molt right now. Not normal but not unheard of. Usually the final juvenile molt occurs right around sixteen weeks, so I'd look to that as a probable cause.