missing neck feathers

[chickwhisper8]

something pulled these feathers out. should I be concerned? How long will it for the feathers to grow back?

 

[Kelsie2290]

The wound doesn't look too bad, I would put Blu-Cote or something on it so the other birds don't pick on it. Would expect it to take a couple of months to grow back, also depends if she goes into molt. Do you know when it happened? I would be worried if you don't know what caused it. Was she in a coop/run when it happened or do you free range? Do you have roosters that could be doing it?

 

[chickwhisper8]

my Dad put on blu-kote two days before picture. I have one rooster though and suspect this happened in the run (feathers found in run). We only let them free range a few hours each day.

Is there a way to keep chickens from doing this to each other? Do chickens molt at predictable times or seasons?

 

[chickengeorgeto]

....Is there a way to keep chickens from doing this to each other? Do chickens molt at predictable times or seasons?

There is no reliable way to make a chicken behave like a human wearing a feathered boa, so the answer is NO.

Spring chickens in temperate regions molt in the late Summer or early Fall and they should be finished with the molt by the end of January and their new feathers will be hardened off by then. In tropical regions chickens molt at all times of the year, the thing that triggers molting in the tropics is the birds' age.