Does anybody have pictures of beard picking?

[KristenG]

I was unsure where to post this, actually. Is this the best forum?

I raise d’Anvers and have had issues with beard picking from time to time. This makes it challenging to select my breeders properly. However, I have started to notice differences in the looseness of the skin around the face in some of my birds. A thought occurred to me, perhaps more loose skin around the face could contribute to more surface area for feathers. Now I am curious about the relationship between the presence of dewlaps and beards. If your bird has a pea or walnut comb, then a dewlap is also likely as it seems to be linked (Ameraucana and most bearded silkies have this!). I was hoping some BYC members might be able to share some photos of their birds with beards… and those same birds without beards (or if you know for sure they have a dewlap or not you can just say it). Preferably the photo where they are missing part of the beard will be showing the degree of dewlap.

Favorelles tend to have dewlaps too, I’ve noticed.

But to better understand if there is a relationship I need to see birds with dewlaps and those without and I need to see if there is any impact on the beard at all.

My D’Anvers do not have dewlaps and I wonder if this gets in the way of the full development of the beard. I will include pictures of one of my plucked hens (current appearance of her) and a photo of when she was a pullet and actually had a beard. As you can see, it is somewhat flat from the side.

I am really excited to see what people have. Let’s do some citizen science and learn something new together!!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I see this same sort of plucking in my bantam flock. It doesn't matter if they have a beard or not. It's other hens trying to get them out of the nest boxes so they can lay or set. I've seen them peck and pluck each other. Some can end up bald. They are usually lower in the pecking order. If you break them when they go broody ASAP it can be prevented somewhat.

Not sure if it's the same for your bantams, but thought I'd mention it.

 

[KristenG]

I see this same sort of plucking in my bantam flock. It doesn't matter if they have a beard or not. It's other hens trying to get them out of the nest boxes so they can lay or set. I've seen them peck and pluck each other. Some can end up bald. They are usually lower in the pecking order. If you break them when they go broody ASAP it can be prevented somewhat.

Not sure if it's the same for your bantams, but thought I'd mention it.

In this particular case, this hen was in with a single cock. There was no competition for nestboxes. The baldness was from the male mounting her. But the beardlessness was from social grooming. There is a genetic component to this behavior and not one that good management can 100% solve or prevent.

I don’t want people to be ashamed of their beardless beauties. It is normal and natural for birds from Bearded flocks to groom each other’s beards off.

I just want to know what it looks like underneath those beards of other peoples birds. I want to compare differences between breeds in the amount of loose skin under the chin. I want to see if that characteristic trilobed appearance is connected to a dewlap.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

In this particular case, this hen was in with a single cock. There was no competition for nestboxes. The baldness was from the male mounting her. But the beardlessness was from social grooming. There is a genetic component to this behavior and not one that good management can 100% solve or prevent.

I don’t want people to be ashamed of their beardless beauties. It is normal and natural for birds from Bearded flocks to groom each other’s beards off.

I just want to know what it looks like underneath those beards of other peoples birds. I want to compare differences between breeds in the amount of loose skin under the chin. I want to see if that characteristic trilobed appearance is connected to a dewlap.

Hopefully someone has pictures. I've had a few birds get their beards plucked over the years, but never took pictures unfortunately.

 

[jess330]

My Salmon Faverolles muffs and beard has been plucked recently! The beard was never very full, but I found these before and during/current photo! I miss the muff!

 

[KristenG]

These are great before and after photos, thank you for sharing jess330