Not an emergency-- but concerned

[RMo2]

Hello! I am new to chickens-- my very first flock is 9 months old. The day before Christmas eve, I went out to the coop and noticed that our Plymouth Partridge Rock had lost all the feathers on her face. I checked her over-- no signs of plucking, scrapes or blood, no lice or mites either. I assumed that she had begun molting, likely because not enough light?? So, we added additional lighting to the coop that night. Since then, she has continued to lose more feathers, but only on the back of her neck, head and cheeks. There are tons of pin feathers coming in.

I have noticed she seems to have fallen down the pecking order a bit, but no one is pecking at her and there is no evidence of trauma. She is more timid than she is normally. She is eating and drinking. Her eyes are bright and her waddle and comb are of normal color.


I am preparing to travel, and want to have peace of mind that she is only molting, since I am leaving her with our house and chicken sitter. What do the experts say? Just want to be certain I am not missing anything.





I'm not so sure she likes her picture being taken with her feathers out of sorts ;-)

Thank you for any insight!

 

[Puddin Fluff]

I am not an expert but I do have a "feathe picker" in my flock. She litterly pulls out feathers (and eats them) from any chicken that will allow her to do so. She's sneaky about it and will continue to pick and eat until the other bird moves away. If she has gone down on the pecking order, it may be that you too have a picker and she is just allowing it to happen. It is a bad habit and I understand, nearly impossible to break if that is what the problem is. On the up side, it means she isn't sick.

 

[my sunwolf]

Looks like the start of a typical molt to me. Often, since feather picking chickens are hard to stop, the pin feathers will get picked too, and your chicken will begin to look bald. Yours looks like no one's messing with her pin feathers as they grow in, which is good!

 

[RMo2]

Looks like the start of a typical molt to me. Often, since feather picking chickens are hard to stop, the pin feathers will get picked too, and your chicken will begin to look bald. Yours looks like no one's messing with her pin feathers as they grow in, which is good!

Thank you! Do you think she will continue to molt, or will she stop now that we doubled the lighting?

Thank you!!!!