Thank you for the tips Michael & John.
I checked for mites at night and found nothing. A further update shows that there was only one hen missing her beard and both roosters are missing theirs. This makes me think that Johns insight regarding pecking is the culprate. I am not around them alot during winter to have noticed them doing this. Fortunately they all made it through the coldest spell of the year unharmed (I do not provide any heat, except to keep their water thawed). I even got an egg from one of my brown egg layers last thursday to my suprise! It was not even cracked by the time I retreived it. I would assume this is a good sign. Also of note, the hen that was missing her beard was also missing a few feathers atop her head. This weekend I purched layer crumble (16%) protein. I had been feedling them 100% scratch which is about 9% protein. I find myself confused as to what I should be feeding them during non-laying times of the year. As many magazines and books I\'ve seen so far, none of them go so far as to say. I just figured the corn would help them put on extra weight for winter and keep them warmer. Does anyone know where I can find a good article which talks about what I just discussed? I prefer manufactured feed for its ease of use. I feed them bread as a treat, they are crazy for it. Apples, tomatoes and other things of that nature they get during the warmer months.