hens plucking rooster’s feathers🐓

[speckledsuspect1213]

hiii! i have an ameraucana rooster (his name is s’more) who is missing a large amount feathers on his neck and on his butt. he literally just grew back his ameraucana rooster trademark puff of feathers under his neck, and his bottom feathers just grew back as well. (both spots grew back a couple months ago) now both spots are bare. there are two hens that excessively pluck s’mores feathers; one is a buff orpington and the other is a golden laced wyandotte. they literally go up to him and start plucking away at either his neck or butt and s’more will just stand there while they pluck. i’m not really sure why the hens do this? they don’t fight, they just pluck and sometimes eat his feathers. i just feel bad for him because it’s obviously painful as he’ll cry out. any ideas why? i can post a pic tomorrow.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Check him over for lice and mites just to rule those out.

Some roosters will just stand there and let hens pick at them. Not sure why, probably because of the attention.

What do you feed your flock, including treats?

You may have to separate him out until he regrows all the feathers. There's no guarantee the hens won't resume plucking him again once you put him back with them.

An alternative would be to put pinless peepers on the 2 hens, see if that helps at all.

 

[speckledsuspect1213]

Check him over for lice and mites just to rule those out.

Some roosters will just stand there and let hens pick at them. Not sure why, probably because of the attention.

What do you feed your flock, including treats?

You may have to separate him out until he regrows all the feathers. There's no guarantee the hens won't resume plucking him again once you put him back with them.

An alternative would be to put pinless peepers on the 2 hens, see if that helps at all.

i feed them nature’s best organic egg layer pellets and some scraps from my moms kitchen occasionally as a treat

 

[speckledsuspect1213]

Check him over for lice and mites just to rule those out.

Some roosters will just stand there and let hens pick at them. Not sure why, probably because of the attention.

What do you feed your flock, including treats?

You may have to separate him out until he regrows all the feathers. There's no guarantee the hens won't resume plucking him again once you put him back with them.

An alternative would be to put pinless peepers on the 2 hens, see if that helps at all.

i’ll see if i can buy some pinless peepers, thank you!