Hen pulls her own feathers out! Not stressed!

[guest226]

3 year old EE is not molting, lays consistently. No head shaking or behavioral abnormalities. She’s a very happy girl, loves to eat and is very active.


If you peek under her head long feathers she is essentially naked, but with the stems of the feathers still there. It’s like this under her belly too a bit.

One time I went out to the roost and there was a huge pile of white feathers- where she had pulled all of them out in one sitting. yikes

She lives in a large run with lots of roosts and plenty of space to run around. She has 4 sisters. They get plenty of protein and calcium.

She has no symptoms of being broody. There have been no stress inducing changes in all her life.

Not really an important thread, just curious!

 

[Debbie292d]

Could she be preparing to be broody? Mine do that all the time but these are silkies.

Otherwise, feather-picking on themselves is usually boredom or lack of protein.

 

[guest226]

Could she be preparing to be broody? Mine do that all the time but these are silkies.

Otherwise, feather-picking on themselves is usually boredom or lack of protein.

not sure. shes never been broody before, and if I can remember shes been doing this for about a year. I don't think her neck feathers have been growing back.

She might be bored, but she doesn't pick on the other hens, and jumps around all the time. Ill just keep an eye on her.

 

[Debbie292d]

not sure. shes never been broody before, and if I can remember shes been doing this for about a year. I don't think her neck feathers have been growing back.

She might be bored, but she doesn't pick on the other hens, and jumps around all the time. Ill just keep an eye on her.

Maybe give them some scrambled eggs or mealworms for a few days (high protein) just to see if that changes anything with her.