Silkies neck is featherless

[sophieejones]

Hi all,

I'm new to this so I do apologise if I'm doing this wrong...

I've had chickens for around 6 months now, I added three silkies to the original 4 around 2 months ago and there was the usual pecking and 'bullying' however they soon found their place and fit in with the rest of the chickens.

This was until I got home from work today and noticed that one of my silkies has no 'fur' on it's neck, please see the picture...

Is this due to pecking or is this down to another reason? And more importantly is there anything that I can do?

Many thanks,

Sophie Jones

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Welcome to BYC.

Do you have a rooster?

It looks like it is from picking/plucking, but check her over well for any signs of lice/mites.

Feather picking can be caused by a number of things, make sure they have plenty of room, you may want to add some extra protein to their diet (scrambled/hard boiled egg, tuna, mackerel or meat - or offer a higher protein commercial feed), boredom can sometimes cause picking as well, having a dust bathing area and some hanging fruit/veggies to pick at may help.


http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/03/chicken-feather-loss-cannibalism-causes.html
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/08/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification.html