Is this chicken sick?

[TarynMerkley]

Our RI Red (at least I think that’s what she is - I ordered an Easter egger chick and it seems they messed up) seems very disheveled lately. Maybe she’s always been this way and I didn’t notice before, but the last few weeks I’ve been noticing her feathers are always sticking up and her under feathers are very grey. Otherwise her behavior is normal. None of the other ladies seem disheveled. Could it be she is at the bottom of the pecking order? They don’t seem to pick on her when I’m watching. Any ideas?

 

[Myrshine]

Doesn’t look sick, probably being picked on or is molting, I wouldn’t worry about it unless she’s showing more symptoms.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Looks like breeding damage. Do you have roosters?

 

[333113]

Breeding damage is usually mostly on the back and back of the head.

Looks more like molting, to me. You can tip her upside down (briefly) and look at her vent. If there are no little crawly things (lice) or fluffy bits of stuff attached to the base of her feathers (mites), then it's probably just molting time.

One more thing to look at...check the edges of her larger feathers. Frayed feather edges are another indicator of molt. Feathers don't last forever, which is what molting is all about. You may also see the sheaths of the new feathers poking out of her skin, or half-sheathed feathers growing out.

If you decide it's molt, remember that while she is molting she is building new feathers. Feathers are mostly protein. When my birds go into molt, I splurge on extra protein so they can grow the best possible feathering.