- Jun 3, 2012
- 4
- 1
- 9
My 18 mo old head hen, Dela, is losing her feathers! And I don't mean a gradual molt. I mean I went out last night and feared something had gotten into the mobile coop because the ground was covered in white feathers. She did at partial molt at about 10 mos. She HAS been off laying the past 10 days, but it’s been hotter than Hades here in Central Texas and everyone’s been laying less since I merged the pullet flock with my 18mo old layers, so I ascribed it to one or both of those two causes.
When I found no terrible tragedy had occurred, I pulled Dela out to bring inside and look at her. She tried to get away and left me 4 secondaries, one primary, and three BIG handfuls of chest, back and bottom feathers - that along with what was in the coop. When I looked, a spot on her neck and her pecs just below her neck are naked. Not bleeding, thank God, but plucked naked. When I took her to put in the pullet pen with the most submissive of her ‘sisters’ (so she’d have company but be away from the #2 hen who was pecking at her naked spots when I pulled her out) she jumped out of my hand, and left me a HUGE handful of feathers and a bare spot on her back. At this rate, I could process her and not need any hot water to get her fully plucked!
What can be the matter and what should I do? Nothing I've read about molting describes this situation. It's not from the head backwards...it's the whole bird all at once. And there aren't feathers-in-waiting...just bare plucked chicken. This morning the two birds in the pen were both up...amid a white snowfall of Delaware feathers covering the bottom of the pen and clearly barer chicken. None of the other layers are doing this.
Having just last week merged my four layers with the four 4-5mo old pullets and one 5mo old cockerel, I wondered if this is a stress reaction. I did the merge the way everyone says to, gradually, and it seems to have gone relatively well (except my Silkie pullet, but that's another story). I haven't seen anyone challenging Dela for leadership while they were free ranging in the evening, but I can't speak for what happens in the mobile coop while I'm working. It's still sort of a y'all and us flock, but the older hens are now letting the younger birds off the roosts and onto the ground. Rocky is still the acknowledged leader of the pullets and the only pecking order disputes I've seen are between the pullets. Rocky may be nearly as big as Dela, but he runs as fast as the pullets if one of the older hens tells him where to go.
When I found no terrible tragedy had occurred, I pulled Dela out to bring inside and look at her. She tried to get away and left me 4 secondaries, one primary, and three BIG handfuls of chest, back and bottom feathers - that along with what was in the coop. When I looked, a spot on her neck and her pecs just below her neck are naked. Not bleeding, thank God, but plucked naked. When I took her to put in the pullet pen with the most submissive of her ‘sisters’ (so she’d have company but be away from the #2 hen who was pecking at her naked spots when I pulled her out) she jumped out of my hand, and left me a HUGE handful of feathers and a bare spot on her back. At this rate, I could process her and not need any hot water to get her fully plucked!
What can be the matter and what should I do? Nothing I've read about molting describes this situation. It's not from the head backwards...it's the whole bird all at once. And there aren't feathers-in-waiting...just bare plucked chicken. This morning the two birds in the pen were both up...amid a white snowfall of Delaware feathers covering the bottom of the pen and clearly barer chicken. None of the other layers are doing this.
Having just last week merged my four layers with the four 4-5mo old pullets and one 5mo old cockerel, I wondered if this is a stress reaction. I did the merge the way everyone says to, gradually, and it seems to have gone relatively well (except my Silkie pullet, but that's another story). I haven't seen anyone challenging Dela for leadership while they were free ranging in the evening, but I can't speak for what happens in the mobile coop while I'm working. It's still sort of a y'all and us flock, but the older hens are now letting the younger birds off the roosts and onto the ground. Rocky is still the acknowledged leader of the pullets and the only pecking order disputes I've seen are between the pullets. Rocky may be nearly as big as Dela, but he runs as fast as the pullets if one of the older hens tells him where to go.
