Rooster Missing Feathers

[cswinko]

Hello. We recently discovered our rooster is missing feathers on his chest. He seems to be fine otherwise. Any ideas of the cause?

Thanks!

Chris

 

[Mrs. K]

How old is the bird, and is he molting or, did he catch himself on something as an injury?

 

[cswinko]

Thanks! He will be a year old at the end of May. I didn’t notice any injuries and he seems fine otherwise. Do they molt in the middle of winter? Its pretty cold here so I want sure.

Thanks again!

 

[Ridgerunner]

That is not molting, molting would be much more general. You can see new feathers growing in so the entire feather is being removed. So it is kind of old. If they were breaking off they would not grow back until he molts.

Is a hen plucking those feathers? One day I saw a hen grooming the rooster, plucking feathers out of his throat area. He just sat there, not concerned. I had not seen that before and haven't since. I isolated him for a couple of hours then let him rejoin his flock. I don't know why she was doing that.

It is possible something else is going on, you may never know. As long as it is not getting worse I would not worry about it. But I would try to watch.