Mites / Molt / Pecking ??? (missing neck feather mystery)

[boppyadil]

Hi all! I have a hen who has quite a lot of neck feathers missing. I noticed it about a week ago and have been monitoring and seen no sign of mites or lice (but I'm not very experienced with either, so I may have missed a sign). What do you all think?

Some of the other hens have been preening a lot and have feathers sticking out in funny ways, so I thought they might be about to molt, but so far they haven't, and they do seem pretty itchy. Today I got a video of another hen pecking the one who is missing the most feathers, but it seems to be consensual. I also wondered if it was stress related; we had been letting them free range for almost an entire month until one got sick, and now they have been stuck in their yard (still a big space, just not as fun) for a week and a half. I am letting them out again today to see if it helps.

Any thoughts??

Thank you!!

 

[FloridaChick88]

Do u happen to have a rooster?

 

[FloridaChick88]

Do u happen to have a rooster?

If you do this tends to be where roos grab to hold on while they mount hens.

if no rooster I’d say it’s most likely your other hens causing it, especially if this girl is at the lower end of the pecking order.

 

[boppyadil]

If you do this tends to be where roos grab to hold on while they mount hens.

if no rooster I’d say it’s most likely your other hens causing it, especially if this girl is at the lower end of the pecking order.

No rooster, but she's definitely not the top of the order. Any recommendations to stop them? I'm concerned that others are getting pecked at too.