Strange sagging by wattles

[AmyPaperlady]

My hen is a red sex link, probably at least 3 years old (I've had her 2 years, and I was told she was "older" then). The sagginess almost looks like what I'd imagine a beard might look under the feathers (unless a beard *is* just feathers) except Quiche isn't bearded, and it's mostly on her right.

Some pics:

And a pic of my other red sex link, the same age, for comparison (different angle, though) :

 

[CMV]

She is going through the start of a molt or a mini-molt (at her age it is probably a full-on molt). You can see evidence of feather loss on the top of her head, too. You are seeing what her neck looks like under all her normal feathered grace. Chickens are not very pretty underneath all those feathers. Quiche has a droopy jowls.

 

[AmyPaperlady]

She's pretty much done with this year's molt. That area tends to look rather scrawny instead of distended. The pics don't really show the bagginess, I guess.