My Rescue Roo Age unknown, and the two girls that are with him, age less than a year old are losing thier feathers. We have had some strange weather, it got hot then it got mild, and it is starting to heat up again. I noticed RR was losing his feathers, and happened to notice the girls are as well. Could they all be molting, or is there something else going on.
Here is RR
Here is one of the girls, miss C
And here is miss Z
I dont know the answer, but will also be watching the thread as I just got out of the hospital and noticed 2 of my 4 hens have similar feather loss. Mine are only 11 mos old...so dont think they are molting.... will be interested in seeing what others have to say :o)
The girls look a bit like they are loosing feathers from the roo mating them. Roos will pull out head feathers and scruff up and remove feathers from their backs and sides.
When they molt they loose feathers all over and look really scrappy.
Roos can loose feathers if the hens are pecking at him or if they rub up against a fence. We have a Buff Orpington roo that has feathers missing from one side because he is always rubbing against the fence.
They may be molting as well. If they continue to loose feathers all over and look scrappy then they are molting. Also, how is the egg production? Has it dropped? When they molt they tend to not lay as many eggs. A little extra protein will help them through the stress of molting.
I tried to find a picture of our Ameraucana when she molted but I can't find one. I'm pretty sure I took one. If I find it I'll post it for you.
Looking closely at the hen's I would agree totally with Smedge. All the signs are saying the Mating Game is being played. And the old man is probably loosing some from the sheer excitment.LOL. Your birds look healthy and happy. Now its just a matter as to whether you eat the eggs or hatch them. Have fun miss Jester. Hay
Thank you all, I just am a bit worried when it comes to RR since when he came, someone had cut his feathers, and he was looking reall good a few weeks ago. Egg production has tapered off somewhat, I was getting two eggs a day from them, now it is down to one, dont know who is laying them since they both lay green eggs.
Hay, how will you know when the hens go broody and sit on the eggs? I would gladly give up some eggs that are used for Claires flan, to get some babies...
smedgekles, that would be great, the guy up the road, guves his chickens electrolytes when it gets hot so they dont molte, it that normal??
There are things you can give them to stop the molt. I haven't heard of the electrolyte one but I don't think it would hurt. Usually though when they molt they end up with even more beautiful feathers afterward. I couldn't find that pic of our Ameraucana, but she looked downright awful, worse then any of the others. When she was done and her feathers came back she was so beautiful.
Broody hens will cluck and fluff their feathers. She will walk around puffed up and sqauk at the other chickens if they come near and may even attack them. She will go sit in a nest and may stay on the nest and sqauk at you when you come near. Many hens squak when they are laying an egg and you come near, but a broody will puff up and she will stay on the nest even if there is no egg under her.
We have 2 broodies on eggs right now.
Nope then no broody hens for me today.... at what age do they start?
This is what a rooster does to chickens
I likes my rooster I had raised him from a baby but he had to find a new home because he was to big and aggresive to the hens.Here are somemore pics of what he did to there backs and some of them had nasty looking necks and heads,they don`t miss him a bit.
If I were a hen I wouldn't miss him either :)
Hens can start going broody in their first year. It is best to only hatch eggs from hens and roos that are more than a year old.
We have 6 Silkies that are a year old and all have been broody once and some twice in the last 5 months.
Bantams like Silkies and Cochins seem to go broody more often. All our bantams have been broody this year except 3 and we have 14 bantam hens, so that means 11 have been broody and 4 of them twice. We have had only 2 full sized hens go broody this year, both were Barred Rocks. One hatched hens last year as well. One of our Australorps hatched eggs two years ago but hasn't since. Our Buff Orpingtons keep looking like they want to be broody but never take the time to sit on the eggs.
This message was edited Jun 18, 2009 4:32 PM
Oh so I have some time then, I think they are around 10 months old, and billys girls are only 5 months old
Broodiness has a lot to do with the breed also, some never go broody and some are broody forever it seems. Often when a hen is broody she gets miffed easily and will warn you not to try and mess with her eggs. Some will even attack you if you try to take their eggs. I have a little white Jap bantam and she is broody now. Whats funny is she will let others get in her nest to lay and then take over their egg. The only way I can get eggs from her is to take a small plastic pail and cover her head and then shove her by the but into the pail, take the eggs laid by others and then put her down and pull the pail off of her head. She does not have any problem with it, but if i reach in to take her egg all hell breaks loose. She tore one of my glove fingers clear off and left a welt on my finger. Little devil bird, but I love her.
ROFLMBO
Only laughing cause I have my first broody lady right now! No roo here, so no babies lol. But my lil lady sounds alot like yours :oD DH can just reach under her and take the eggs no problem....but when I went out there to take the eggs she tried to rip my hand off!
I'll have to try the plastic bucket trick lol! I'm wondering if she thinks DH is her Roo lolol!
Too funny, a little devil bird, lol
1AnjL we have one like yours....one of our Barred Rocks was a nasty one, she would peck at me all the time if I checked her eggs for extras but my son could lift her up and look with no problem.
OMG Haystack, and I thought our little black girl was bad when she is brooding........LOL
Not that bad though!!
I'll have to tell my boyfriend about yours.
My boyfriend uses gloves to move her off the nest to get everyones eggs that she sits on
I on the other hand go in without gloves. I pet her for a while (it pisses her off) and then I go after the eggs. I know, I'm bad!
Hmmmmm, now how come I can get them without gloves and my boyfriend can't? Hmmmmmm.
This is a picture of her when she was young.
I'm so glad I found this forum....I'm new to the wacky world of chickens...I have 9 hens, they live in the most beautiful coop my hubby built last fall....I am having some concerns...
One of my french hens (there are 2: "Ewe", and "Lala") (get it..."french hens"!) lol
anyway Lala has been losing all of her neck feathers, I think she is broody, all my girls share the same nest on the ground in the corner of the coop.(?) There are 12 nesting boxes, but they like the commune lifestyle apparently. Lala has been stealing all the eggs, and as of late, wont let me get them. I have to use a shovel to get her to move.
Do you think the other hens are pecking at her neck to get to the nest or to their eggs? This has been going on for months now.....what do you guys think I should do?
LisaLu
She may be feeling a bit broody. Usually they will take the eggs and roll them under themselves. The others may be pecking at her to get her to move off the nest so they can lay their eggs. Some chickens get really nasty about the nest they want.
We have a Barred Rock that is queen of the pen and she will peck any other hen if it is on the nest she wants. She pecks at them and pecks at them till they move.
A roo can also cause loss of head and neck feathers. If she is broody she may be fighting him more causing him to be more aggressive and pull out the feathers.
I wonder if its a barred rock thing (the mean broody hens!) cause mine is also a PBR. and again today, DH walked out there, bawked at her a few times and then just reached under her and pulled out the eggs! Then when she realized the eggs were gone, she came outside and acted like nothing was wrong! this does not happen when I go out there! lol!
how long do they stay broody for?
Oh, by the way, my boyfriend uses welding gloves. They are thicker and stronger...LOL
There is something called a "neck molt" that some young chickens get where they only lose feathers from their necks Also most chickens have a juvenile molt at about 4-5 months. It's when the rooster get their hackle and sickle feathers.
Hey, Hay. Got any use for a really nice Black-tailed While Japanese Bantam roo? I also have his girl friend, and extremely short-legged Black-tailed Buff JB. The rooster police are on my trail and the JBs are getting restive in the basement.
There ae rooster police?! I think my neighbor is their chief :oD
1Anjl! You're back! Que pasa?
:o) finally feeling much better :oD
thanks
Kassy!!! If you go in without gloves, you are my hero, but your boyfriend is my kind of guy, cause before I started using that plastic pail as I told you that little Monster Jap Banty tore one of my glove fingers off. I was so mad I was gonna duct tape her beak for a week.LOL.
1Anjil !! I had heard about some of your problems, I am so glad things are better for you now. Also welcome back.
As for brooding time, they are all different ,y barred rock has been broody for about a month. My silkie has been broody for ever. She is even worse than the Jap Bantam. She hatched out one baby and my wife reached in to pet the baby and the mom chased my wife for three trips around the coop and finally my wife ran out the door. I was laughing so hard I could not even help her. She used to love the Silkie, now she hates her. That Silkie can't weigh over two pounds at tops and to see her chase my wife was hysterical. My wife was even mad at me.LOL
What's so funny is that none of the bird mind the plastic bucket, they just slide in perfectly, I pick up the eggs and pull the bucket off of their head and they smile. It is a McDonald, childrens sand bucket. LOL But it works great and saves fingers.
Hi Lisalu!!! Welcome to the forum, glad you joined us. Smedgkles hit the nail on the head, so I have nothing to add except, WELCOME ABOARD and hope you enjoy this funny-farm. Haystack
P.S. There are no silly questions here, just goofy people:-)
I believe it all except the Jap smiling at you Haystack.. LOL
So does that mean you don't want the Jap pair Catscan is offering you?? I guess you'd have to buy some more happy meals to get more pails.. LOL
Anjl I didn't hear anything.. I hope if it was bad, it's gone now..and everything is good.
:o Haystack! You didn't help your wife?
Hate to say it but I probably would have been laughing too.....LOL
I could tell you all a horror story about my boyfriend raising chickens. He was totally new to it. I was around them when I was young, and then in my teens I had some a few years. Maybe I should say I had common sense. Shuuuush, I didn't say that!!!
I'll save that horror story for a new thead when I end my rotation at work. 3 more nights to go and counting!
I've used the bucket-on-the-head to maneuver hogs around, never tried it with a hen; good to know.
My boyfriend thought it was a pertty good idea too. LOL
Next I will see him trying it.
