possible overpreening?

[Rowanh16]

i have a hen named rosemary who’s always looked a bit scruffy. she was 6 months when i got her but recently became friendly enough to be held and come up to me and she’s now probably 2 years or so. her eggs have always been a bit round and misshapen but she’s tiny. on may 1 we got some day old chicks and they moved into the coop about a month ago. we built a new coop and the chicks stayed in there with rosemary because we wanted to give rosemary a break from the other hens thinking she was being picked on. i always thought it was strange that she seemed to look like she got picked on since to be honest she’s a bit of an asshole to the other hens and i don’t think she’d let another hen pick on her. recently she was laying down due to the heat with her wings out and i noticed under her wings is completely bare. where her neck connects to her body and where her tail connects to her body are also pretty plucked at. i’ve never seen her over preening herself but that’s what it seems like. i made an apron but she could easily lift up the sides to get to the spots. is there any other suggestions? she’s very territorial over food as well but they always have access to food so there’s no need for her to be worried about that. i’ve always gotten my hens from this place (4 other in her batch, 6 the year before, 9 day old chicks this year) and never noticed them seem traumatized or over preen before so i don’t think it would be trauma but i’m not sure how they were treated at this place. if i can catch her later i’ll try to get some pictures.

 

[muddy75]

Pictures will be helpful