This is strange - what would cause it?

[MyraNC]

I had my roosters seperated and they were with their own kind while I gathered eggs for hatching. Two roosters have their tail feather like someone took sissors and just cut their tails off. Does anyone know what would cause this? One rooster was with one hen and the other rooster was with 4 hens. It looks strange and wondered if you have ever had this.

 

[DTchickens]

Breeding can damage/break tail feathers, mites can eat through the feathers and make them fall off etc.. then there is also this time of year they are about to start molting (some of mine already are) and will lose their feathers and grow them back.

 

[MyraNC]

Do roosters moult? I've never seen that happen. Why would they moult. A hen needs a rest from laying eggs all the time but his job isn't hard.

 

[onthespot]

That happened to a whole pen of my birds. There is a cage up on buckets that they love to go under and scratch around and dust bathe under there and they have all broken off all their tail feathers and look horrible. I feel your pain. I can't take any good pics until this winter!

 

[DTchickens]

Quote:
Actually a roosters job is harder then it looks, he does more then just fertilize eggs.. As for molting it isn't really a break, molting is hard on a bird and for that reason it is best not to handle them as molting makes them quite sore, molting fixes broken feathers, can make them molt in even prettier which being birds im sure plays a part in attracting a mate, and helps them keep even cooler in the summer months due to loss of feathers.


-Daniel

PS. And roosters do they're jobs 24/7, hens only lay for a couple months except for certain breeds

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