Bald patches?

Blandy · « **on:** January 01, 2009, 17:49 »

Hi all, we've got 5 lovely isa browns who all live very happily together but one of them has suddenly developed 2 completely bald patches on either side of her neck, just below her head. She seems totally healthy otherwise and we have not noticed any squabbling between her and any of the others. In fact they are all very sociable happy birds with free run of our large garden.

Can anyone help on why she has developed these bald patches? Should we be worried?

Thanks for any advice x :?

kimT · « **Reply #1 on:** January 01, 2009, 18:31 »

Have you checked her for any creepy crawlies?

mumsy · « **Reply #2 on:** January 01, 2009, 20:30 »

Hi & welcome
I would check for mite etc but she could just be coming into moult. An expert will be along I'm sure

freda · « **Reply #3 on:** January 01, 2009, 20:37 »

Sure its not feather pecking? Keep a close eye. If so try stockholm tar applied to bald patches - will heal area and keep others at bay. :roll:

Blandy · « **Reply #4 on:** January 03, 2009, 14:33 »

Hi guys, thanks for the quick replies.
We can't find any mites either on the hens or in the house (we had an outbreak of red mite a few months ago but managed to clear it with a couple of good cleaning sessions and no sign of return yet).
We've checked her bald patches again and the skin is really clear and healthy looking so hopefully it is just moult. Haven't seen any feather pecking either but will keep alert.
This is our first winter with our girls so we are pretty new to all this and really appreciate the advice.

Thanks all. Loving this site.

nnbreeder · « **Reply #5 on:** January 03, 2009, 20:11 »

Is she the dominant hen? For some reason she will stand tall and let other hens pluck neck feathers. this behavior happens mostly with a rooster but when there is none present a hen will often take the place of a rooster and some will even mount the hens and do a squeaky crow.

Foxy · « **Reply #6 on:** January 03, 2009, 21:54 »

Quote from: "nnbreeder"

Is she the dominant hen? For some reason she will stand tall and let other hens pluck neck feathers. this behavior happens mostly with a rooster but when there is none present a hen will often take the place of a rooster and some will even mount the hens and do a squeaky crow.

Its odd that the cockerels let them do that..I wonder if its to give them extra protein or something? I think chicken behaviour is fascinating, watching the boys encourage the girls with juicy worms or sometimes I give Bigfoot a little bit of bread and he runs to his girls and gives it to them!

Anyway I am rambling - maybe she is just having a partial neck moult-they do that sometimes.

Blandy · « **Reply #7 on:** January 03, 2009, 22:05 »

She is not the most dominant of the group (there is one of the girls that is definitely the leader but otherwise they are all fairly equally matched tho none are particularly timid). Interesting advice though, we are learning new stuff all the time.
Will definitely keep looking out for the others pecking her, but so far, still no evidence that its anything other than moult. Can moult be localised to small areas (as in this girls case)?

Foxy · « **Reply #8 on:** January 03, 2009, 22:11 »

yes Blandy particulary in young hens- a partial moult just involves the neck normally. Sometimes stress can cause this partial moult too, like a dog attack, did you have any fireworks going off locally for example?

Blandy · « **Reply #9 on:** January 03, 2009, 23:07 »

They've definitely not been scared by anything and live in a safe, secure garden. However they are all around 7 months old (this is their first winter), so are still fairly young so that partial moult would seem to be the best guess yet. Thanks Foxy

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