chicken troubles
By shaz6611
@shaz6611 (951)
Australia
January 18, 2007 2:00am CST
We have two pet chickens that we have had for two years. in this past year one of them has started losing all of her feathers around the chest and tail area. does anyone have ay tips on howto stop this or what could be causing it?
4 responses
@minerc (1373)
• United States
27 Jan 07
You didnt mention if its 2 hens or 2 roos, or a combo.
Either way I have a 75% chance of getting this right.
It sounds to me like one is trying to be dominate. The only combo that this probably wouldnt be true is if the one loosing the featers is a hen and the one keeping its feathers is a roo.
let me explain:
chickens are like people.
2 women together get catty
2 men together have to prove their manhood
1 man and 1 woman, the man gets henpecked (sorry I didnt make the rules, I just live by them)
So what to do?
Well, if they are 2 of the same, re-establish dominance. Heres how I do it. When you see one picking on the other, throw a rock at the one doing the picking. This makes the bully think the other has beaten him. It may take a couple of times doing it, and "refresher training every couple of months, but it will work. Before you call the humane society on me, I didnt say hurt the bully, just let him know hes not in charge.
If the dominate is a hen, and the other is a roo, get another roo. That way they both keep her "busy" so to speak. just look out for over-breeding. (hens will usually pluck out the roos tail feathers to keep him in line.)
If the dominate is a roo and the other a hen, ya probably got a different problem than the one I just said.
1 person likes this
• United States
27 Oct 08
xDD ROFL that...was an amazing comment man. it really explains how my chickens acted, they Do get catty! xD
@minerc (1373)
• United States
23 Jan 07
It is called Moulting, Chickens loose there feathers, and get new ones, during this time they stop laying eggs.
During Moult the reproductive physiology of the bird is allowed a complete rest from laying, and the bird builds up its body reserve of nutrients
Hope this helps.
• United States
27 Oct 08
I've had my oldest chickens for 2 years too and they started to molt around this time. They stopped laying eggs for a while and theyre losing a lot of feathers. heres a nice website to help you with this, www.geocities.com/kellian293/soyoudetails.htm and it should explain quite a bit about chickens. Feel free to add or message me. ;)
