What is happening with my faverolles feathers?

[Bellapollo]

Hi all,

(Its been a minute).

My Faverolle - 1 year 2 months old has recently been losing her feathers.
I noticed about a week ago that she was losing her fluffy feathers and my dad (a vet) said it could be a malt, however I am quite concerned about her recent behaviour and might think, and this may sound strange, she's depressed? or maybe the other chickens are trying to kill her.
Today I noticed she's lost all of her large tail feathers and a lot of her wings, (I have attached photos of her and compared to others), for the past few weeks, she goes into roost significantly earlier than the others, when they all go out walking around she hangs in and around the coop. When she goes to eat the others are quite dominate over stealing her food.

What do you all think is happening? is this normal or is she distressed because of the others?

Thank you all, I hope you're keeping well
Stay safe x

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

Your sweet girl is going through a hard molt, as suggested by your father.
Once chickens reach maturity, they shed their feathers annually. Sometimes it is minimal, and sometimes it can be startling like what is occurring with your hen.
The new pin feathers can be painful to the touch, so resist physical contact as necessary.
Offer her extra protein (scrambled eggs, meal worms, dried fly grubs, etc). She will stop laying during this process because feather growth requires protein. Every molt is different and can take up to several weeks to grow new beautiful feathers.

On a side note, she may seem depressed and/or avoid her flock mates......Can u understand why? I would be self-conscious too if I looked like that!

Best wishes & Be Well!

 

[aart]

Dad's correct.

 

[Bellapollo]

Thank you guys ! x