Bald/Missing feathers...!? Behavior or ...? Fed UP!!

[speckledhen]

I dont know if your girl is losing many feathers at that age. Usually, the bare spot just before the tail and under the wings is damage from being mated alot. When they are molting, too, it's a double whammy because the feathers are easily pulled out. The saddle allows the rooster to mate, but shields the girl from the claws and spurs and allows new feathers to grow back underneath just fine.

 

[Lynn]

Yep, just above the base of the tail is where she is bald. The broken bloody tail feathers was new today. And, I asked about the molt, because they all look pretty full and sleek. I'm not sure when molting occurs, though. It surely does sound like damage from being mated, based on what you and other things I have been reading.

I just find it so odd that she is the only one out of all of them! And that it has been going on for a couple of weeks now, if not longer. Poor thing. I will tape her tomorrow.

Hey, Marrie (Sundance), if you're still out there, how much duct tape did you use? Just enough to cover the area, like a bandage? Or did you wrap it around farther on the sides for security? ...I think I'll start small. No farther than the sides of Speckledhen's saddles, and not as far up the back as them.

Thanks you all!

Lynn