Chicken is loosing feathers just around neck.

[gwindlyn]

I have a 7 month old leghorn hen who is starting to loose just the veins of her neck feathers (quills and shaft are intact). I have a flock of 7 she is one of the two smaller birds, but none of the others are exhibiting this problem. Because of the weather all the birds are a bit stressed (no frostbite or other health problems), because they get limited sun and cold nights. This bird does not seem to be in pain or showing other signs of bad health and the skin at the base of the affected feathers looks healthy and there is no sing of actual plucked feathers or bleeding. Could this be a result of pecking by the other birds, and if so what can I do?

 

[gallusdomesticus]

Pecking is a possibility but I've never seen it confined to just the neck area. It sounds like she may have mites. Look for small white or red 'dandruff' looking objects at the base of her feathers.

 

[BeccaB00]

It may be pecking, but from my experience, pecking results in red/raw skin.

I have a bird with the same problem right now (edited to add hes in a cage alone)

And we think he's sticking his head through the fence, which has chicken wire

around it, and when he tries to pull out, it pulls and damages his neck and head feathers.

No raw skin, just really pulls and hurts his feathers. It also may be mites, but

again mites may leave raw or irritated skin.

 

[pontoosuc]

I have one chook in full molt the past two weeks!

The other 15 are not molting though I do have some feather plucking and a couple
of bald spots on some hens (no rooster here)

Cannot WAIT till spring!

 

[txmel]

i had one hen that pecked the feathers of the other hens necks when they went in to lay eggs. the feathers were plucked out but no redness or irritation on the skin. it got really bad when one of the lower ranking hens went broody, her neck was plucked fairly clean. i had to put the one chicken in chicken jail to give the rest a chance to regrow their neck feathers. then when i re-interduced the one who was doing all the plucking i put vicks on the necks of everyone so she wouldnt pluck them out again. now all is good and no more pecking.