Dumb question about older chickens

[Chikenshiken]

This is a weird question to ask but does anyone else’s older chicken started losing feathers around their head? My hen is almost about 3 years old now and I noticed her plumage has changed a lot, the pattern of it. She used to have spots and such but those are completely gone this year. I also noticed that her head is looking a little bare but it isn’t molting. She’s also the top hen and there’s no way she’s getting plucked. Their diet is also balanced so I can’t think of anything other than she’s just getting older and her feathers are changing. It’s bare to the point where it’s pretty noticeable that her head isn’t as full of feathers as it used to be. Now I don’t know about chickens having a receding hairline and that’d be pretty silly but I’m just wondering is age really affecting her head feathers?! I’ve seen my neighbor have an older hen who also had a “ receding hairline “ for chickens. So anyone out there with older chickens, is this normal?

 

[nuthatched]

she might be soft molting, birds patterns tend to stabilize after the second or third
molt.

 

[Anime2lover]

This is a weird question to ask but does anyone else’s older chicken started losing feathers around their head? My hen is almost about 3 years old now and I noticed her plumage has changed a lot, the pattern of it. She used to have spots and such but those are completely gone this year. I also noticed that her head is looking a little bare but it isn’t molting. She’s also the top hen and there’s no way she’s getting plucked. Their diet is also balanced so I can’t think of anything other than she’s just getting older and her feathers are changing. It’s bare to the point where it’s pretty noticeable that her head isn’t as full of feathers as it used to be. Now I don’t know about chickens having a receding hairline and that’d be pretty silly but I’m just wondering is age really affecting her head feathers?! I’ve seen my neighbor have an older hen who also had a “ receding hairline “ for chickens. So anyone out there with older chickens, is this normal?

Got roos? Quite often they take feathers by accident off the head while mating.

 

[bhaugh]

Mites can do this. But I had older hens start molting from the neck

 

[Perris]

@Shadrach has a hen called Lima who is showing the same phenomenon; perhaps he'll chime in with what he thinks may be causing it.

 

[50-45-1]

How about your feeder or waterer.
Some types of these will cause a rub on a chickens head from the repetition.
I had a top hat once who had trouble with my feeder and almost got her head stuck in it.

 

[Callender Girl]

I have an older BLRW who seemed to have a perfectly normal molt last fall. But the feathers around her head came back much more sparsely, unlike the rest of the hens in her coop. Her body feathering is totally normal.

I will be interested in seeing more responses to this thread.

 

[Mrs. K]

I think you are right. My old hens, well they look old. They are stiffer, crankier, and their beaks look old and so do their legs.

 

[aynesidea]

Mites can do this. But I had older hens start molting from the neck

In dogs red mites can cause hairloss.

 

[LaurenRitz]

I now wonder if there's a chicken baldness gene.