Losing neck feather

[BillyPilgrim]

Hi

I am completely new to chickens and have a brood containing 2 Buff Orpingtons and 4 "brown layers". The Buffs are about 8 months old and the brown hens are 5 months old. They get to free range for an hour or two about 4 time a week.

One of the Buffs has been losing feathers on her neck, some missing and some looking broken, for about a month now, she has also stopped laying and had an occational sneeze. The skin on her neck seems a bit white and flaky. The rest of the birds seem to keep her at a distance but I haven't seen anyone pecking at her. She has gone from being quite cuddly to pecking at us whenever we try to touch her.

I looked for parasites but didn't see anything but I'm not sure what I'm looking for. The rest of the bird seem ok and are laying.

I have attached a pic of her neck.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

[sourland]

She is molting and those quill like feathers are 'pin' or blood' feathers. They will lose the translucent sheath and she will be beautiful once again. They can become irritable when molting. You might want to add a little BOSS or dry cat food to her diet.

edited to add that it is unusual for a bird as young as her to molt.

 

[BillyPilgrim]

Thanks for the reply,

That's what I was hoping was going on but I thought she was too young.