What happened? (Feather Problem, Fighting, Or what?)

[missourichickenmama]

William went into the coop, the ran out to tell me that the wing of one of our chickens (a buff orpington, the feathers were buff) Was lying on the ground. I ran out to look, and found that it was not a wing, but a pile of feathers. We have all of our buff orpingtons,none of them has a bare back (which was now what I was expecting, the pile was huge), but what happened? was it a sudden Violent molt? Were they fighting? Did a predator grab a hen by the soft feathers on the base of their tail? Feather Picking? Even though none of the hens has a bare back, one of them is missing the feathers that make a poof...

If this is in the wrong section, please move it. I did not know were to post it.

 

[Cuban Longtails]

I found a load of blue orp feathers in my run this morning and thought he'd been taken by a predator. However, he's still there but very scraggly looking, because he's moulting.

 

[missourichickenmama]

When I saw all the feathers, I immediately thought that I lost a chicken. It did not help any that one of my buff orpingtons was missing... Only to appear later

She probably was taking a dust bath... But I wondered if it was a fight because they were found in front of the nest box that contained a very grumpy broody hen (who, by the way, had all of her fluffy feathers).