Bald Chickens

[chickenlady81]

I have two hens that are starting to bald around there heads and back. Is this from the rooster mating them to often or is this from one of the other birds picking at thier feathers? Maybe some sort of disease I dont know about? They have been checked over for mites etc and I see nothing. I use DE in the coop and feed.

 

[greyhorsewoman]

Most likely it is from your roo(s) overmating your hens. They are especially amorous in the spring. How many hens do you have? You might want to remove the roo for a bit or invest in some hen 'aprons' to reduce the damage.

 

[chickenlady81]

Quote:
I have one roo for 7 hens. If I remove the two hens for a while will he still be ok with the rest or just find more to pick on?

 

[VerlonCox]

I am going with molting here.

 

[greyhorsewoman]

Removing two hens could then become problematic when you try to replace them into the flock and they have to reestablish the 'pecking order.' Roosters will sometimes chose one or two 'favorite' hens to overbreed, causing severe feather loss on head and back.