balletchickenmom
Chirping
Hello! This Hen has been balding for weeks and I’m trying to narrow down what’s causing it. She is currently laying normally (our most consistent layer) and is behaving totally fine. We do have a Rooster that loves her, so we initially got her a mating cape (pictured cause it’s cute) but that hasn’t seemed to help. I was able to check her for lice and saw none. She’s a squirmy chicken and had a hard time catcher and investigating the tail. Could it be mites? Tbh she is a bit of a dirty chicken and doesn’t seem to dust bathe correctly.. she is ALWAYS dirty and seems to just roll in the dirt and not shake it off 
I couldn’t tell if the tail dirt was dirt or mite droppings… all of our other chickens appear just fine. She’s also balding near her crown…Thoughts?
I couldn’t tell if the tail dirt was dirt or mite droppings… all of our other chickens appear just fine. She’s also balding near her crown…Thoughts?
when my rooster count got high and my roo to hen ratio was skewed. I have gotten so much lecturing on this site about " you only need one rooster, blah, blah. First they aren't all together. Secondly those that are have a hierarchy with one head rooster and several " lieutenant roos" who have their own subgroups and own heads. My head rooster, Roody, accepts this as do they . Not recommended but my hen count go too high for one roo to watch them all. They're what we used to call a blended family. Another reason I feel lends toward any order here is most of my chickens are the typically docile breeds. I have seen hen saddles before. No idea if they work or not but it may help. Good luck!
