Hi all, My female Khaki has a patch on the side of her head and she has been very lonely lately, wandering off from her family of 3 boys and 2 other girls. Is she being bullied or is she sick? Picture below, please help, shes normally a jolly girl! Thanks
Could be from over-breeding by one of the males. Sometimes females will end up with bald necks from the males pulling feathers out while breeding. I'd keep an eye on them and watch their behavior if you can. You might need to separate her from whoever is doing this (make sure she has at least one friend with her if you separate). Your ratio of males to females isn't ideal and could possibly be causing the issue. For every male you should have 2-3 females, otherwise females get over-bred and can be seriously injured. Is re-homing a couple of the males a possibility? Or could you possibly get yourself at least 4 more females?
The mark on hear head could be from being pecked at. It's just an educated guess, but IMHO, 3 boys and 3 girls is a tough male/female ratio (ideally, it is better to have a 1 male/3 female ratio) - especially if the boys are fighting over her. Winter is when the males typically pick out their mate for the upcoming mating season. It could also be from the other females establishing a pecking order to court the suitors. I'd watch them very closely, and make sure she isn't being the center of the guys' attention. If needed, you could segregate the boys from the girls for a bit and see if things get better. Hope that helps. Dan
