Re: Bald Heads

From: Roland (roland_at_rippingale.co.uk)
Date: 08/17/04 

Date: 17 Aug 2004 05:21:16 -0700

fowls@nuele-online.de (nuele) wrote in message news:<1gih0ia.17u7cwxdk0rwgN%fowls@nuele-online.de>...
> 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)

I only have 5 hens. These two in questions are of same age and type. I
have noticed grooming as you described but this seems to be very
gentle as if picking out mite or bugs but certainly not removing
feathers.

This baldness appeared to continue after the moult and at a guess I
would think it to be due to some sort of condition maybe lack of a
certain mineral or vitamin but this is only guessing.

Roland

Loading