Why is she going bald?

[V Comb]

Our 8 month old silkie is going bald! Is is just a bad moult or is it somthing worse?

 

[Year of the Rooster]

She either has mites, someone is plucking her head feathers and picking on her, or the rooster (if you have one) is over mating her and using her crest to hang on.

 

[gumpsgirl]

Is she in with a rooster? Our silkie hen was in with a d'Uccle rooster who picked her as his favorite (bless her heart) and ended up bald. Needless to say, she couldn't stay in with that boy anymore.

 

[V Comb]

Nope, we have no roosters, but I have seen some of the girls picking on her. If thats the case, what should we do?

 

[gumpsgirl]

Hmmm... That's a good question!

If there isn't any roo and you've seen the other hens picking on her then it is likely a pecking order thing that they will work out in time. Just keep a close eye on her to be sure they aren't drawing blood or anything.

 

[gallusdomesticus]

I have a RIR hen that is two years old that is also thinning on top. As long as she appears healthy, I wouldn't worry about it. My RIR with the thinning top is one of my best layers.

 

[Tangerine farmer]

I have a RIR also who is a great layer. She didn't molt this past fall/winter. She looks haggard, and balding. I was also wondering about that. Thanks for the question and resulting answer. I especially like the one above not to worry about it. That makes it EASY to deal with.

 

[CallyB57]

One of my Silkies has the same bald pattern on top of her little head. She's a very small bird and I have 2 Silkie roosters - therein lies the problem, I am sure. But she has lost the 'thickness' of her fluff on her tail and her back also. I am going to work on this problem this weekend and try to fence off an area where the hens can take a break for a couple of weeks and see if they start fluffing back out again. I don't suspect mites, but it could be. If fencing them off for a couple of weeks does not help, then I will try some poultry dust on them. I said I would NEVER use poultry dust because I'm afraid it cause residue to get inside the eggs I sell. I don't use anything that could taint the eggs. So, I'm probably just going to use the DE, as I wouldn't sell my eggs if I used the poultry dust. It has permethrin in it, but I read somewhere that permethrin is synthetic and stronger than pyrethrin, which is a natural bug killer, but I can't find anything at all with pyrethrin in it. Does anybody know the name of a product that contains the pyrethrin?

 

[V Comb]

Thanks everyone!