Male pattern baldness?

[FluffyBottomBantams]

My mother has a cockerel named Marty who is very sweet but the top of his head is completely bald save for a few (quite pitiful) mini head feathers. My first thought was that he was getting all of them picked out but he’s the alpha.. and never has any pin feathers whatsoever growing in..I’ve also never seen any of the hens pick at his head. So if he was having them picked out whoever is is doing it is very thorough. As seen in the picture his skin is healthy and so are the feathers around it. Oddly enough the only other bald bird in the coop is his mother and the bottom of her neck is bald all the way up to her chin. We’ve coated hers in blue cote and it grew back in but soon was bald again. Is this somehow genetic? Do birds get male pattern baldness?? I’m sorry if this sounds absurd..it’s juts very weird

Also for reference he’s a breeding quality(not being bred now lol) bantam New Hampshire from a reputable breeder, his mother is more hatchery quality from the same breeder and his daddy is an prize winning show quality bird also from that breeder. He also had some frost bite issues this winter. He’s nearly a year old and is fed Nutrena feather fixer..sorry for such a long post but thanks in advance!!
- FluffyBottomBantams

 

[MiniBirdsMi]

It's technically possible. The naked necked "turken" chicken comes to mind. It was a spontaneous genetic mutation that they bred into a more refined form over many generations-- but it had to start somewhere.

The confusing factor is, if I understood correctly, that the mother's do grow back? Usually the featherless gene is present at birth - they are bald and the feathers never grow in. Makes me wonder if perhaps it's a fungal infection (favus)?

 

[FluffyBottomBantams]

We got the mother as a broody adult with no neck feathers but the cockerel just recently lost all his feathers at once . Around the middle of winter.

 

[FluffyBottomBantams]

Would a fungal infection leave the skin completely healthy? I’ve never heard it but they were peeling something fierce this winter which we assumed was mild frostbite. I’ll have to google favus

 

[Sydney Acres]

Do you have any side pictures? This is so well demarcated, with a sharp line between the fully feathered area and the fully featherless area, with no fade out or transition line where the feathering is thin. That's not a pattern that you'll see from other chickens plucking out feathers.

Typically a fungal infection will have a fuzzy transition line as the fungus damages the feather follicles on the edge of the infection. Also, the skin is typically thickened and crusty, sometimes with pinpoint scabs, sometimes itchy, with a fungal infection.

The frostbite theory seems logical, except that the comb is not damaged. Typically with frostbite the comb is severely damage, whereas the top of the head is unaffected due to the feather protection. Perhaps he got just the exact right amount of damage to genetically susceptible feather follicles to damage them, but not enough to cause full out frostbite to the comb. Or was the comb damaged but has healed since then?

Interesting situation. If any of his offspring have featherless or thinly feathered heads, that's probably proof of a genetic component. Lots of animals do have genetic issues that cause hair to fall out. Why not feathers??

 

[MiniBirdsMi]

Right, I agree, really strange. Fungal issue was the only thing I could think of but you're right, there would be more crusty or flaking skin.

 

[RiverOtter]

It looks like extended comb tissue, which is genetic, I've seen some production bred hens with turkey-looking heads.

As it's genetic, I wouldn't breed him.

 

[Sydney Acres]

"Extended comb tissue." Interesting possibility.

@RiverOtter, in the birds that you've seen with this, did they initially have feathers that later fell out, or was this tissue always unfeathered? I would not think that they would ever have feathers in that tissue if it was truly an extension of comb tissue.

 

[RiverOtter]

@Sydney Acres , they started out normal as chicks and then the comb tissue just kept expanding and expanding. The older the birds got, the more it covered.

 

[FluffyBottomBantams]

Holy cow I hope it’s not that!
That’s wild I’ve never even heard of extended comb tissue. Neither parent has that going on and id also have a hard time believing the breeder I got them from would let a bird with that deformity live, let alone breed to make more..I looked up favus..and their combs resembled that of my birds this winter but it’s pretty much gone now and the feathers have always been healthy looking.