Feather pulling

[Peasncarrots]

I have one hen whose head is starting to look bare. I do have a male. I always see him having to chase her to try to mount her. BUT I also see him mate with another hen ALL the time but she does not run away from him at all and her head is perfectly fine. Sometimes he even just settles for her because she's in the way and the other one is running away. I have a couple other hens in there with heads that are fine too but I never really see him mating with them whenever I'm observing them. So is he actually aggressive or is her head bare because she always runs away from him?

 

[Nabiki]

It sounds like he's aggressive when he catches her. This might also be why she runs away from him.

 

[Peasncarrots]

It sounds like he's aggressive when he catches her. This might also be why she runs away from him.

I have a hypothetical question now.. I read on a post that during molting, feathers fall out really easily. If she were molting, could that be why she's balding more (because when he pulls, the feathers easily come out)? and also running away cause she's probably irritable? I noticed that her chest feathers are changing in appearance so I'm wondering if she's molting too

 

[Nabiki]

I have a hypothetical question now.. I read on a post that during molting, feathers fall out really easily. If she were molting, could that be why she's balding more (because when he pulls, the feathers easily come out)? and also running away cause she's probably irritable? I noticed that her chest feathers are changing in appearance so I'm wondering if she's molting too

Is she losing feathers anywhere else? If not, then she's probably not moulting.

 

[GlicksChicks]

Does her head look like this?

 

[Peasncarrots]

Is she losing feathers anywhere else? If not, then she's probably not moulting.

No, I don't think she's losing feathers elsewhere. Just her chest feathers & chin area looking a bit spiky, but not obvious pin feathers that I've seen when searching.

 

[Peasncarrots]

Does her head look like this?

no, it's not a uniform balding. I'm pretty sure her feathers are being pulled.

 

[GlicksChicks]

no, it's not a uniform balding. I'm pretty sure her feathers are being pulled.

So is mine, her's is worse than your hen's though. Give your hen some extra protein, it should help with feather growth.