Does anyone else's older peacocks lose their crest feathers?

[Knix6468]

Our white bird named Verdel we got as an adult male about 3 years ago so my guess is that he is a minimum of 6 years old could even be 10+. He hasnt had crest feathers since we got him
and I thought it was perhaps some accident or he picked them out or in his other flock he was picked on.

Our oldest IB bird just this year doesnt have his crest feathers. He is at least 7

Thanks

Holly

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

I have a 3 y/o White peacock, Romeo, he has crest feathers, I did notice a few were missing though. Is he molting?

~ Aspen

 

[MinxFox]

You could have a bird that is pulling their crest feathers. Some peafowl will do that to others. For example if you see a pen of peafowl with all of them missing crest feathers but one has theirs then they are probably the one pulling everyone's crests off. I have even seen this with free-range peafowl in a local breeder's backyard.

 

[featherhead]

MinxFox has a good point. Peas often groom one another and it's really mesmerizing to watch. They gently peck each other's face, eyes and heads. It's almost like a ritual. My oldest male is around 20 and has a real sorry-looking crest this year. There are only 3 feathers and they grow out at weird angles. (Kinda looks like he stuck his toe in an electrical socket.) Anyway, I strongly suspect this was caused by another bird pecking his head. Every now and then, one will ambush another while they are eating from the feed tray. I suspect this male lost most of his crest before I separated the males in early March.

 

[ColbyNTX]

I have also seen some scrape them off by hitting sharp edges or beams in the top of a coop or roof.