No neck feathers, not laying?

[Oceanbaby]

We have three pullets - a cuckoo maran, an ameracauna, and a speckeled sussex. We got all three of them together as chicks this March. There have been no noticeable signs of serious disputes, but the sussex is definitely the lowest on the pecking order. I noticed the past week that she is missing almost all of her neck feathers. She has the spine of the feathers, but the feathers themselves are all gone, just around her neck. The maran is just starting to also lose some feathers around her neck, starting at the bottom, just in the past few days.

The only hen laying right now is the ameracauna - the other two haven't layed in weeks. They were all previously laying once a day, maybe once every other day. I figured it was because it was colder and darker. But now I'm starting to get worried. They all act fine, are eating fine, etc.

Any ideas? Is this molting? Is this something to be concerned about?

 

[Imp]

Sounds like it is new feathers growing in. So could be molting. Can you post a pix to be sure?

I'll attach a link to mite & lice info.

Imp

http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html