Sick or just old?

[Orpstralope]

I adopted this chicken as my first chicken about three months ago from a friend in eastern nc. I have no idea how old it could be and it has seriously lost feathers and greyed in the waddle and lost its comb. Could this small, bantam-like chicken be sick, or is it just old? the pictures aren't very good but they should work alright! Thanks:

(notice the absence of tail feathers?)

 

[speckledhen]

She could be molting, which makes the comb shrink and go pale. They replace their feathers once a year and it takes extra protein to do that. Mine lose weight, too.

 

[robin416]

I learned not long ago that you can tell by the thickness of the toes and legs whether a bird is old or not. From your pic, she doesn't look that old.