Chicken has no butt feathers????

[Nina Zeyen]

Hi, so about 1 month ago I realized I accidentally got a rooster and as much as I loved it I couldn't keep it. I gave the rooster back to the original owner and replaced it with a hen along the same age as my other hen. When I got the new one, I realized that she had no tail feathers. They were all plucked out. I was wondering if this was other chickens, A predator/pest or just they oddly aren't there? Has anyone ever heard of chicken pulling other chickens feathers?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

It can be hard to say. I have personally accidentally pulled out all the tail feathers trying to catch a chicken. They are designed to have their feathers come out when they are frightened. Another option is a molt, and if it's a young bird it may not have grown a tail in yet. There a few chickens that never get a tail, a few breeds are tail-less, so it could be genetic if it never gets it's tail back. The rooster I pulled the tail out of last spring is finally getting it back.

So lots of options on what could have happened.

 

[Nina Zeyen]

Ok thank you

It can be hard to say. I have personally accidentally pulled out all the tail feathers trying to catch a chicken. They are designed to have their feathers come out when they are frightened. Another option is a molt, and if it's a young bird it may not have grown a tail in yet. There a few chickens that never get a tail, a few breeds are tail-less, so it could be genetic if it never gets it's tail back. The rooster I pulled the tail out of last spring is finally getting it back.

So lots of options on what could have happened.

 

[CzyChikenMath]

It can be hard to say. I have personally accidentally pulled out all the tail feathers trying to catch a chicken. They are designed to have their feathers come out when they are frightened. Another option is a molt, and if it's a young bird it may not have grown a tail in yet. There a few chickens that never get a tail, a few breeds are tail-less, so it could be genetic if it never gets it's tail back. The rooster I pulled the tail out of last spring is finally getting it back.

So lots of options on what could have happened.

curious... is loosing feathers around the butt the size of a half dollar or larger possibly from the beginning of molting? TU

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

curious... is loosing feathers around the butt the size of a half dollar or larger possibly from the beginning of molting? TU

It is the wrong season for a full body molt. Generally the molt starts at the head and works it's way back.

The main reason for feathers missing at the tail is from them being pulled or plucked out, or with hens from mating.