Molting or bullying?

Adrienne-m

Chirping
May 4, 2020
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69
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Hey all! I currently have a flock of 13 (12 girls and a boy). My girls are a variety of breeds. My rooster is a frizzle. Tank (the roo) has over the last week appeared to lose feathers on his chest. The patch has gotten larger. He’s not bald there (at least not yet) but seems to have downy feathers on his chest. I am wondering, is he molting or getting picked on/feathers pecked out? It’s getting pretty chilly here so I’m worried he will freeze. The coop
Is draft free, etc and I have a heated panel they can warm up in front of but I’m still worried about him. He’s a little guy but I can tell he’s been able to mate. Any advice?
 
Maybe post some photos. He will find a warm place in the coop if he gets cold, so keep the coop dry. If it is moulting you will notice feathers in other places, and if it is bullying he will more then likely be hiding and avoiding some of his fellow flock (photos will help).
 
The age of this roo would be helpful if we're to consider whether or not he's even old enough to molt.

You can determine what's going on in two ways. First, look under the fluff on his chest and see if there are uniform pin feathers emerging. If you see what resembles a pin cushion, he's in molt. Look also on the back of his neck for pin feathers.

The other way is to sit and watch the chickens. Hens love roosters and they show their adoration by plucking out the feathers on their necks. As they pick and pluck, the under layer of down feathers is exposed. This is most likely what is happening.

I have two roosters that my hens adore. They show it by plucking out their beautiful neck feathers until all that's left is the under fuzz. This year, I'm limiting the amount of time they're all together during the day. This usually goes on in the loafing hours of the afternoon. So the boys get roaming privileges to free range at that time, or they are sequestered together in the jail pen where they can chat up the girls but the girls can't molest their feathers.
 
Maybe post some photos. He will find a warm place in the coop if he gets cold, so keep the coop dry. If it is moulting you will notice feathers in other places, and if it is bullying he will more then likely be hiding and avoiding some of his fellow flock (photos will help).
I’ll post some tomorrow. He still is cockadoodling and chasing the ladies
 
I can tell he’s getting some mating done because the eggs I’ve been getting have the fertilized white mark.
 
The age of this roo would be helpful if we're to consider whether or not he's even old enough to molt.

You can determine what's going on in two ways. First, look under the fluff on his chest and see if there are uniform pin feathers emerging. If you see what resembles a pin cushion, he's in molt. Look also on the back of his neck for pin feathers.

The other way is to sit and watch the chickens. Hens love roosters and they show their adoration by plucking out the feathers on their necks. As they pick and pluck, the under layer of down feathers is exposed. This is most likely what is happening.

I have two roosters that my hens adore. They show it by plucking out their beautiful neck feathers until all that's left is the under fuzz. This year, I'm limiting the amount of time they're all together during the day. This usually goes on in the loafing hours of the afternoon. So the boys get roaming privileges to free range at that time, or they are sequestered together in the jail pen where they can chat up the girls but the girls can't molest their feathers.
Oh I didn’t know that. He’s a super sweet guy and doesn’t overdo it with the affection like our previous aggressive roo. I’m not certain of his age, I’d say somewhere between 6-9 months. I can’t see any skin but the quill (??) parts kind of stick through.
 
Here is Tank and his almost bare chest. It looks like the feathers are broken off to about a half inch to an inch from his chest. He’s a happy guy though...definitely more of a gentleman than our old rooter so maybe the ladies just love him extra??
 

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