Re: Bald Heads

From: nuele (fowls_at_nuele-online.de)
Date: 08/13/04 

Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2004 19:31:11 +0200

Roland Rippingale <roland@rippingale.co.uk> wrote:

> I have 2 hybrid hens which are about 3 years old now. They have both slowly
> developed bald heads. At first I thought this was part of their moulting
> process as the feathers disappeared slowly but they never grew back. I am
> confident they are not being pecked by other birds and I do not have a
> cockerel. The only cause I can think of is that they are deficient in
> something.
>
> Any ideas please ?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Roland

sorry but I think I misunderstood you at first, thinking you had 2 hens
only, but later you talk about other birds? How many live in the same
flock as these two?

There are different forms of feather pecking. Some birds are
aggressively chasing others, getting hold of feathers and plucking them
out this way. I have not had it in my flock, but I think it is rather
the backs or bottoms that are pecked at in these cases.

But I have seen another form that looks almost like affection. It seems
to develop from a normal behaviour: In a relaxed situation, when a group
of hens is sunbathing, tidying their feathers with their beaks etc, I
have occasionally seen one hen starting to pick at little things on the
face of another. Some hens seem to like to do that, and the others
obviously like it. Hens do it for the cockerel as well, he will keep his
head very still for ages to let her do it. I have never seen a male bird
do it for a hen.

There must be some pecking order thing in it. Who is allowed to clean
someone else's face. I have not been able to definitely decide whether
it's higher rank cleaning lower, although it often looks like it, but
not always. Perhaps it's just sympathy that decides ;-)

Now this fat hen I just wrote about had one favourite friend she would
regularly "clean" like this, and at some point she started taking care
of her little throat feathers by plucking them! The other hen kept
standing very still and didn't seem to mind at all. As I said, they
would always do this in a relaxed and peaceful atmosphere. And it only
ever happened between these two.

Nuele (D) 

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