One of my chickens started losing some feathers on her back a month and a half ago and has had this patch of fluffy down for a while. She's 7 months old. Could this be a juvenile molting thing or something else? She's still laying an egg a day and seems to be totally healthy otherwise. We've looked at her skin and it doesn't look irritated or damaged underneath - she just looks like she's half feathers, half fluff.
I have a small flock - just 3 chickens and the cuckoo is at the bottom of the pecking order. At the moment, one hen is separated from the other two because she was ruthlessly feather picking the older chicken, who's molting. But the cuckoo marans seems to be getting along with her older molting coop-mate just fine. I haven't seen any pecking going on between the two.
Any ideas on what could be going on or whether there's anything to worry about? Below are some photos:
I have a small flock - just 3 chickens and the cuckoo is at the bottom of the pecking order. At the moment, one hen is separated from the other two because she was ruthlessly feather picking the older chicken, who's molting. But the cuckoo marans seems to be getting along with her older molting coop-mate just fine. I haven't seen any pecking going on between the two.
Any ideas on what could be going on or whether there's anything to worry about? Below are some photos: