Molting, Bullied, or Rooster?

[GreenHaven]

I am a new chicken keeper, so please help me figure out what to do here. This hen might be molting but my flock is 8 months old and it's winter so the timing is wrong, and the feathers look broken off. There are 8 hens and one rooster, and all grew up together. I removed her from the flock yesterday (to an isolation pen) in case she is being bullied or the rooster is too rough. It's been unseasonably cold her in the Pacific Northwest, and they've not been out like usual (they avoid the snow), so it would be hard for her to hide right now. I checked her over closely, and I took these pictures of her last night. I could not see any sign of mites, but I've never had any so far and I know they can be hard to see. I tried returning her to the flock this afternoon (she did not seem at all content being separated) but she was only in there for 5 minutes when I heard a major commotion. When I went back to see what is was, she was lying on her side in the snow and the rooster was standing over her and a couple hens seemed to be pecking at her. As I approached, the hens took off but the rooster stayed where he was. Another hen come up and rather gently peck her foot feathers, and then her neck feathers. It almost seemed like grooming. When I knelt beside the hen (rooster still just standing over her), the other hen backed away and I had to move the roo to the side to pick her up. The rooster was very calm - just looking at me. I gave him a few pets to see if he would react in any way - and he did not. It was a little weird, but this rooster is the most docile I have had. I don't think my rooster is damaging her - I don't think it would look like this - but I'm not sure. Could he have been trying to protect her?
Anyway, I picked her up and put her back in the isolation pen in my workshop, but I'm at a loss on how to proceed. This hen went broody in the fall, and she seemed to get picked on at that time. She has a split in her beak from that event. There was one hen that I think was responsible - but it was always over a nesting box. I don't seem to have a true head hen that I can determine, and no general bully. I even have a hen with pretty severe wry neck (tried all the cures - none worked) and she does not get picked on.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

[aart]

Not unusual for taht age bird to have a partial molt their first fall/winter.
They look like new pin feathers that the sheathing has not been groomed off, hard for the ones in that area.
You can gently use your fingernails to help remove the sheathing.

 

[GreenHaven]

Not unusual for taht age bird to have a partial molt their first fall/winter.
They look like new pin feathers that the sheathing has not been groomed off, hard for the ones in that area.
You can gently use your fingernails to help remove the sheathing.

Thank you! Do you just tug on them gently - I don’t want to hurt her. And I’m relieved it’s not bullying or the roo.

 

[aart]

Do you just tug on them gently

No tugging, just roll back and forth and the sheathing should flake off.

 

[GreenHaven]

Not unusual for taht age bird to have a partial molt their first fall/winter.
They look like new pin feathers that the sheathing has not been groomed off, hard for the ones in that area.
You can gently use your fingernails to help remove the sheathing.

My hen is indeed molting as you thought. But I tried to add her back to the flock twice now and she is getting chased and pecked and flew up onto my arms. I am afraid to leave her there. I am thinking perhaps to remove the main tormentor for a few days and try again - maybe adding her back at night? Any advice?

 

[16 and me]

My hen is indeed molting as you thought. But I tried to add her back to the flock twice now and she is getting chased and pecked and flew up onto my arms. I am afraid to leave her there. I am thinking perhaps to remove the main tormentor for a few days and try again - maybe adding her back at night? Any advice?

I might consider separating her, within the flock. A cage in the pen where they can see her, but not touch. Give her her own food and water, and a nest box of she's laying right now (not likely if she's molting). The unseasonable molt can be and may have been triggered by the stress. Often a bullied hen shows such signs of fear that she sets herself up as victim. This arrangement may help her regain her confidence. The other possibilty is that she is sick & while we don't see signs yet, the roo & the rest of the flock may have detected it & are trying to keep her out. Have you seen any signs of illness in her?

I strongly recommend you do not leave her in with the flock without close monitoring. My cockerel did the same thing to one of my hens Friday afternoon and pecked her eye badly enough that she is now in "hospital" indoors with me while I treat her swollen bloody eye. If I hadn't gotten there when I did, I believe it would have been worse.
I won't let her rejoin her flock until her eye is mended and she can see out of it. In a few days I will be doing what I suggested above for her re-integration.
Hopefully you can spare your hen the same suffering.

 

[GreenHaven]

I might consider separating her, within the flock. A cage in the pen where they can see her, but not touch. Give her her own food and water, and a nest box of she's laying right now (not likely if she's molting). The unseasonable molt can be and may have been triggered by the stress. Often a bullied hen shows such signs of fear that she sets herself up as victim. This arrangement may help her regain her confidence. The other possibilty is that she is sick & while we don't see signs yet, the roo & the rest of the flock may have detected it & are trying to keep her out. Have you seen any signs of illness in her?

I strongly recommend you do not leave her in with the flock without close monitoring. My cockerel did the same thing to one of my hens Friday afternoon and pecked her eye badly enough that she is now in "hospital" indoors with me while I treat her swollen bloody eye. If I hadn't gotten there when I did, I believe it would have been worse.
I won't let her rejoin her flock until her eye is mended and she can see out of it. In a few days I will be doing what I suggested above for her re-integration.
Hopefully you can spare your hen the same suffering.

Thank you for sharing your experience with me, and for the advice. I will try this in a few days when the weather improves here. She is very content where she is right now and I’ll watch her more closely for signs of illness. There was some looseness in her droppings but it seemed to clear. I had attributed it to stress - but she is also smaller than the others, so perhaps something is not quite right.

 

[Stephine]

I might consider separating her, within the flock. A cage in the pen where they can see her, but not touch. Give her her own food and water, and a nest box of she's laying right now (not likely if she's molting). The unseasonable molt can be and may have been triggered by the stress. Often a bullied hen shows such signs of fear that she sets herself up as victim. This arrangement may help her regain her confidence. The other possibilty is that she is sick & while we don't see signs yet, the roo & the rest of the flock may have detected it & are trying to keep her out. Have you seen any signs of illness in her?

I strongly recommend you do not leave her in with the flock without close monitoring. My cockerel did the same thing to one of my hens Friday afternoon and pecked her eye badly enough that she is now in "hospital" indoors with me while I treat her swollen bloody eye. If I hadn't gotten there when I did, I believe it would have been worse.
I won't let her rejoin her flock until her eye is mended and she can see out of it. In a few days I will be doing what I suggested above for her re-integration.
Hopefully you can spare your hen the same suffering.

This is spot on.
Also molting, even regular molting in a hen that’s not at the bottom of the pecking order, can invite bullying. The molting hen often behaves like she feels a bit under the weather and the others see it as an invitation to drive her off. Also, once one bird goes after a flock mate others often join in (who wouldn’t have started anything themselves). Finally, I have experienced it many times that a rooster will „discipline“ or mate a hen that I have just handled and put back with the flock - I think it’s to impress on everyone around, that the hen is his and not mine. But in my experience that happens immediately, not ten minutes later, so that was probably not the issue here.
I would put the hen in her own little area in the coop (see, don’t touch style) right away. That way she will continue to be seen (and see herself) as part of the flock. Taking her away for longer will make it harder for her to regain her spot in the flock.