Bald patch on stomach…molting?

[KimbosKluckers]

Noticed she has a bald patch on her stomach this morning. Hard to get a good photo. Eating/drinking and acting fine. She does has some poop smears on her bottom but vent is clean. Could she be molting? It’s been super cold here. I added whole body shots of her too.

 

[nuthatched]

Could be a broody patch

 

[azygous]

Has she shown any strong interest in nest sitting? It's a bit early for broodies, but it's not impossible.

Molt is another possibility, but usually molt doesn't produce bare patches. You would normally see uniform emerging pin feathers rather than plain baldness. Feather picking is another possibility. It does produce baldness. Another possibility is the roosting perch is too rough or too narrow and is wearing away the breast feathers. If this is the cause, other chickens would also be showing missing feathers.

 

[User690263]

My guess would be that she's going broody

 

[KimbosKluckers]

Has she shown any strong interest in nest sitting? It's a bit early for broodies, but it's not impossible.

Molt is another possibility, but usually molt doesn't produce bare patches. You would normally see uniform emerging pin feathers rather than plain baldness. Feather picking is another possibility. It does produce baldness. Another possibility is the roosting perch is too rough or too narrow and is wearing away the breast feathers. If this is the cause, other chickens would also be showing missing feathers.

I’ve not seen any signs of broodiness and the perches are wide and smooth. She’s the only one. I just realized that about 2 weeks ago one gal was in the nest box slurping on a broken egg. It was all over her belly and I tried wiping it off. Maybe it was her and she (or others) were feather plucking for the yolk? Just a thought. I only noticed this today though. I guess I’ll keep checking on it. Thank you all.

 

[beaks_and_bills]

That looks like a broody patch. It's a small patch of feathers on hens' breasts that fall out/they pull out if they're going broody so they can get more direct contact to the eggs while incubating them.

 

[KimbosKluckers]

That looks like a broody patch. It's a small patch of feathers on hens' breasts that fall out/they pull out if they're going broody so they can get more direct contact to the eggs while incubating them.

Thanks, that’s good to know. So far she doesn’t seem broody but we shall see.