TheFugitivePen
Songster
Hello, chicken friends!
I have three chickens with bald spots--one on top of her head and two with a large bald spot on their necks (one spot larger than the other).
None of the bald spots seem enflamed, and they're eating, laying, and interacting normally.
The first chicken with a bald spot on top of her head is toward the bottom of the pecking order, and one of my other hens likes to mount her to show dominance (if I hadn't caught that hen with an egg coming out of her bum, I would have thought she was a rooster). The mounting hen tends to grab the feathers on the other's neck or head.
The other hens have bald spots directly under their beaks and heads. One of them seems to be the head hen, and the other is a known bully who HATES when other hens are in the nest boxes when she's laying. I think they may have gotten into a tussle and pulled feathers. Of course, I didn't see the fight, so I'm not 100% sure.
Is there anything else I should be checking for? Should I be worried about the hens continuing to pluck feathers? How long could it take for their neck feathers to grow back?
I have three chickens with bald spots--one on top of her head and two with a large bald spot on their necks (one spot larger than the other).
None of the bald spots seem enflamed, and they're eating, laying, and interacting normally.
The first chicken with a bald spot on top of her head is toward the bottom of the pecking order, and one of my other hens likes to mount her to show dominance (if I hadn't caught that hen with an egg coming out of her bum, I would have thought she was a rooster). The mounting hen tends to grab the feathers on the other's neck or head.
The other hens have bald spots directly under their beaks and heads. One of them seems to be the head hen, and the other is a known bully who HATES when other hens are in the nest boxes when she's laying. I think they may have gotten into a tussle and pulled feathers. Of course, I didn't see the fight, so I'm not 100% sure.
Is there anything else I should be checking for? Should I be worried about the hens continuing to pluck feathers? How long could it take for their neck feathers to grow back?