One hen lost her breast feathers

[brightongeorge]

Hi all,

Am new to the forum, long time viewer but first time poster. I have 3 hens in total, I noticed today that one of my girls seems to have lost quite a few feathers on her belly. She had been the victim of pecking in the past but the perpetrator has since passed on and she's been fine for months.

Looking at the feather loss it doesn't look to me like she is being pecked, and I've seen no obvious sign of this when watching their behaviour. I did notice that she was opting to sleep in the nest boxes and wondered if she was getting broody - in which case maybe she had plucked her own breast feathers.

I took a few photos to illustrate the problem, I also noticed that her skin looked a bit flaky, a bit like dandruff.

Any suggestions would be very welcome, she seems fine otherwise.

Many thanks!

George

 

[Dawnclucks22]

Looks like she might be molting. It's in season. If she's acting normally but it looks like a chicken exploded feathers everywhere then it's likely she's just losing her old feathers and ready to grow new ones.

 

[Attila the Hen]

Molting

 

[calichicken]

When my girls get a bare belly.. They are usually broody. You will know soon enough if she starts camping out in the nest box and gets cranky when you take her out

 

[rebrascora]

The two options already covered are the most likely. If you include your location on your profile page that might give us a clue. If you are in the Northern hemisphere most likely it's molting. Southern hemisphere, probably broody.

.... Oh and welcome to the forum, even if you have been here lurking for quite some time

 

[micstrachan]

Molting is a strong possibility. I have also heard of hens losing breast feathers from roosting, but not sure exactly how that works. Sometimes there is also a bubble (blister?) Does this sound familiar to anyone?