Losing feathers.

[FosterThePeople]

Hello,
One of my hens has recently lost almost all of her feathers except on her head and a few here and there. She isn't being pecked or harassed by any of my other hens, she just seems to be losing her feathers. She eats, and is acting perfectly normal. All that is left are the little, quill-like ends of the feathers, and the little bit of feather sticking out of them. I'm not sure if this is new feathers growing in or just the end of the feather.

Also I just noticed today that one of my other hens has a small patch of missing feather/the spiky ends of the feathers on her chest. Could anyone please tell me whats going on or give me advice on what to do.

Thank you.

 

[BamaSilkies]

Can you get you ten posts and add pictures?

 

[Angelique]

Could she possibly be molting?

 

[FosterThePeople]

I'll post them in just a second, my internet is being slow...

 

[rbaker0345]

The little feathers are new feathers. Could she have gotten stuck somewhere and pulled out feathers?

 

[RhodeIslandRedFan]

Sounds like molting, and the little quills are her new feathers already growing in. Here is an excellent article on molting. http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/27_2709.htm I'll be watching for your pictures

Edited to add: here are some pictures of molting chickens, to have something to compare your chicken to: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=257565&p=1

 

[FosterThePeople]

My other hens were being nosy and pecking my camera while I was taking pics, they even knocked over their feeder -_-

Anyway, here is the first hen I was talking about.

I'll post more in a second.

 

[FosterThePeople]

I figured molting, but it's the middle of winter, and only one chicken is losing feathers.
Could it be? Well, I have a heater in the coop, so she can stay warm.

 

[RhodeIslandRedFan]

Quote:
Yes, this is typically the time of year that chickens molt, for some strange reason. How old are they? Is she a different age than your other chickens? I can't see the picture you posted, btw.

 

[FosterThePeople]

Oh, ok, well that's strange, my chickens have always molted around September and March-ish. They never have molted this early. She is the same age, and the picture did look like molting. I'll see if I can fix it. But anyway, thank you! I was starting to worry something was off, but I guess they are just being early birds this year.