Should I worry about poor Babe??

[garngang]

I have read a lot on here and tried searching but I'm not real sure what to search for so I'm sorry in advance if this has been covered.
I have a barred rock hen named Babe who seems a little off to me. She seems quiet reserved and somewhat sleepy compared to my other birds. She has been eating fine. Also her comb and wattle are somewhat pale. And the feathers on her kneck area are sparse and what's there looks like quills. Not fluffy feathers. Is this molting behavior or something more serious?? I've started feeding a yogurt oatmeal cod liver oil mix to them a little more frequent just to give them a boost.
Any ideas?
Thanks.

 

[4mainechicks]

Hi,

We have a BR that just went through her first molt starting in November. She just got all her feathers back this last week so it was a long one. The feathers that you describe on her neck are the new ones coming in and they will open soon from their "quil" state. We live on the coast in Maine so our temps have been very cold since October. Because she had lost so many feathers, we went a couple weeks without letting her outside and kept her under a heating lamp in our shed for warmth, especially on the days temps dipped below 32. We also made sure we kept her from the other 3 chickens so they wouldn't pull out her bottom/butt feathers as they came in. Is or has your BR lost feathers other places too? Could she be stressed from the cold? She's probably trying to conserve energy and heat if she's constantly outside and your weather is cold while she is molting, plus molting takes energy itself. Giving our BR the extra TLC was a pain and alot of extra work, but she wouldn't have made it otherwise with her poorly timed molt. Good luck!

1 hubby, 2 kids, 1 cat, 1 golden/lab and 4 happy hens.

 

[garngang]

Wow fast response thanks!
I live in northcentral Arkansas so our winter is nothing like yours! But it has still been cold. In the 20s all this week. My chickens can go inside their home anyime. The pop door is open until they go in for the night. We also put a tarp up on the end where most of the wind comes from. So I am trying to keep it warmer. As for the feathers they are only missing from around her kneck area. If it was molt would it be more spread? I really hope she is ok. The others do tend to pick a little at her but they did anyway bc she's lower on the totem pole I reckon. Thanks again for the response.

 

[kyrose]

garngang,i have a hen with the exact same thing.its just her neck and i dont think shes been laying either.i was thinking molt to but i also thought it would be more then her neck...