Missing feathers.

[Elegantenvy]

Thanks!!!

 

[aart]

It does feel kinda.. pokey. For lack of a better word. Do they molt before they lay? I'm a first timer so this is all new to me.

Chicks go thru 3 juvenile molt before 5-6 months of age.
New feathers can also grow if a feather is fully plucked out from a feather picker in the flock or a predator.

 

[Elegantenvy]

I will keep that in mind and monitor them more closely . See if I can figure out which it is. Thanks for the info!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I see some pin feathers as well. Some may be broken, it's hard to tell.
Some breeds do take a bit longer to feather in, so I would just observe the flock to make sure no one is pecking at her.

 

[Trux]

Hmm. I'll have to pay more attention for sure. Is there a way to discourage it? Or am I doomed?

There are things you can try like these
https://www.amazon.com/Chicken-Anti...ocphy=1013924&hvtargid=pla-391060885386&psc=1
there are also sprays and lotion type things you can try. The peeper work for me for about a month. Thinking that they might be past the picking I removed them. The next day they were right back at it. So instead of having them wear peepers the rest of their lives I freezer camped the worst of the three and re-homed the other two

 

[aart]

Don't apply anti picking solutions until you're sure it is a picking problem.

 

[Elegantenvy]

Hmm. Yeah.. I'll definitely hang around more and watch them and HOPE it's a molt. I love them all and would hate to rehome them. When I started chicken raising I thought I'd be able to harvest them eventually but now I'm not so sure.