Bald belly on buff orpington hen

[GenuineJo]

One of my hens, who just matured at the end of September, now has a bald belly. She also has been sitting a lot on the golf ball. She rolls it under her when she is in the box. Could she be balding because she is broody, or because she is having trouble laying? What do I need to look for to help her.

 

[DobieLover]

One of my hens, who just matured at the end of September, now has a bald belly. She also has been sitting a lot on the golf ball. She rolls it under her when she is in the box. Could she be balding because she is broody, or because she is having trouble laying? What do I need to look for to help her.

She's broody.
She plucked her belly herself.
You need to break her.
Set her up in a small wire dog crate with a wire floor. Elevate it so air circulates under her. You can put a piece of 2x4 in the crate for her to sit on. Leave her in the crate with food and water for 3 days and 2 nights. Let her out on the third evening about 1 hour prior to normal roost time for your flock and observe. If she heads back to the nest box instead of staying with the flock and going to roost, put her back in the crate for another 24 hours and repeat until she stays out of the nest boxes.

 

[GenuineJo]

Thank you! I'll get started on that. I'm glad its more behavioral than medical in your opinion. My kids love this one, have named her Princess because she is the smallest and the most friendly. They will be happy to take care of her.

 

[DaisyBuff]

She may be considering being broody. Usually when a hen decides to go broody she does it slowly and the hormones in her body make her lose her belly feathers which helps her have direct contact with the eggs keeping them warmer. So she is just more than likely broody.

 

[GenuineJo]

Princess seems to be doing fine. She hasn't laid an egg.

 

[DaisyBuff]

My buff Orpington has had a bald belly once, but the feathers grew back. In a couple weeks she was fluffy again. She could also be molting that happens to chickens and they loose a lot of feathers. In addition to molting, the only other occasion when feather loss can be flock-wide is when your chickens have a disease or are infected with parasites. Parasites can cause your hens to lose their feathers and also stop laying eggs. The most common parasites are lice and red mites. If you have any other chickens you might want to check them to for mites.

 

[B-Goock]

We call that broody jail. Lol
Orpingtons are great incubators if you wanted to hatch some. Mark your selected eggs that you want to hatch and remove any new ones.