curious about a hen behaviour..

Doodle_Doo

Songster
10 Years
Oct 10, 2009
488
15
121
Missouri City, TX
i have a silver phoenix hen that recently started plucking her own chest feathers and left herself a big bald spot..
but she is also the only one that seems to want to be broody..she gathers her eggs and the other hens eggs and she sits on them..
is this feather plucking normal for a hen that wants to incubate?
or is this a problem i should really worry about?

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ill also take pics of her chest to show how big the spot is..

here they are

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While I have not experienced this myself I have read about it. She's going broody from what iv read. It's normal, in order to incubate egg's the hen need's to provide heat and humidity. I think the plucking facilitates this process... Hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong though. Also do you want her to go broody? If not try placing her in a wire kennel for a few day's with a wire bottom so she can get a breeze on her bald patch. It should snap her out of it. Then again I am a total newbie so don't take my word for it.
 
From what I understand .... Feathers are an insulation, used to hold heat in! The eggs need the heat. So the hen will pluck some feathers to get direct skin contact. Thus warming the eggs alot more efficiantly! And they say chickens are dumb!!!! Some hens do it alot more than others. especially in the beginning. They seam to grow out of it.

Good Luck and God Bless!
 

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