Hen losing chin/neck feathers

[barkingdoginn]

Hello, I have a 9 month old hen and over the last 1.5-2 weeks I noticed the feathers on her chin/throat area are gone, like a complete bald patch. Every night it looks like new feathers are about to grow out from the skin and then a day later they are broken off again. One day she had a little section of pin feathers coming out and then next day they were gone. The feathers on the outskirts of the bald patch look like the ends are broken off. We suspected it was from rubbing along the edge of a pvc pipe feeder we made because we saw her shovel food out of the pipe with her head but we stopped using it and the broken feathers continues. Skin does not look irritated at all, we looked for bugs /lice and couldn’t see anything, and this hen is the queen b so she doesn’t really get picked on by anyone. Photos below. Any ideas?!

 

[RubelliteRose]

Feather picking isn't always bullying. We have a EE who is often beardless. In her case, it is her best friend who will casually reach over and pluck a feather or two while they are roosting or dust bathing together.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

She's being plucked. I have several girls who are dealing with the same thing. The issue is the plucked will let the plucker pluck their feathers because they think the plucker is "cleaning". It's a common issue in flocks, especially if the flock is bored or don't have enough protein. If neither of those things are a playing factor, you may need to do Pinless Peepers.

 

[barkingdoginn]

Interesting! I tried to spy on them on the weekend to see if someone was pecking them but I didn’t see anything. Maybe I will try giving them extra protein / activities and then spy on them extra hard to find out who’s doing it. First time in 1.5 years of having birds where it’s a noticeable bald spot on one.