Chickens will lose their feathers for many different reasons, from routine molting to particularly bad parasitic infections.
There are dozens of reasons that your favorite hen might not appear as attractive with her big bald spots, and I invite you to try to figure out which of these situations is most like your hen.
If you want your hens to go from poorly-looking bald girls to those beautiful layers they once were, bear with us and dive into each of the potential causes of your hen’s baldness. We will also include some links to examples to help you diagnose your ladies much more easily, so take advantage of those extra resources!
Chicken Losing Feathers on Head: What to Do First
We are just about to dive into the different causes of baldness in chickens, but before we do, I would like for you to go through a checklist with your balding hens. This way, you can differentiate between the different causes:
- Are your hens of good weight and eating well?
- Are combs and wattles red and healthy, or pale? (This post will show you the drastic difference!)
- Is there any blood or signs of trauma in the bald area?
- Is your hen bald on other parts of her body?
- Do you see signs of parasites within the coop? (This post demonstrates how to spot elusive red mites!)
- Do you have a rooster with your hens?
- Are your hens still laying eggs?
Molting: The Most Common Cause of Baldness in Chickens
If you have no roosters, no pest problems, and you feed your hens a well balanced diet (perhaps you are in the Spring or Fall season, as well!), then you are likely dealing with the effects of molting.
When chickens go through this process, they will slowly bald as new feathers fill in. Chickens molt starting at the head, therefore you might not notice any other symptoms in the chickens.
You may notice lots of feathers in the coop and chicken yard, far more than you might notice are missing. This is how poorly a molting hen can look, so don’t be alarmed!
Egg laying may still be occurring in the beginning, but you may notice it tapering off shortly after your hens’ heads go bald.
If it’s getting cold outside, be sure to stuff your hen house with extra straw so that the molting hens don’t get too chilled.
Overzealous Roosters & Frequent Breeding
If you have too few hens per rooster, he could be mounting the hens very frequently (it is recommended to supply one rooster with ten hens, which may seem like a lot for a smaller homestead!)
If this is the case, you may notice that the hens are going bald on their heads, and may also have bald patches on their backs.
This is because he will grasp the feathers on the hens head and neck with his beak repeatedly, and cause them to fall out.
Many roosters have a favored hen as well, who may be in far worse condition than the other hens. You may even spot some small wounds or a bit of blood.
If the rooster is a bit rough on the hens, try adding more hens or separating him from the flock temporarily while the hens recover.
Younger roosters are notorious for this behavior, so it may be a while before your young rooster learns proper manners.
Missing Feathers & Attacks: Dogs, Cats, Coyotes, O’Possums, and Raccoons
Unfortunately, chickens are one of the most delicious prey animals on the homestead, aside from rabbits. There are few predators that won’t try to get to your birds.
If your homestead is no stranger to animal attacks, always assume that something is trying to prey on your birds.
Inspect your hens for bites, scratches, and injuries of the wings or legs in addition to the head. The head is commonly injured during attacks, as a predator instinctively goes for the head or neck to subdue its prey. Chickens can hide injuries well because they are prey animals; therefore, you must pay close attention.
If the are wounds that are not typical of your rooster, search high and low for a potential entry point, a clump of feathers, and broken eggs. Check all poultry wire for holes, bunching, or loose connections.
If you find evidence of an attack, you will need to secure your hens and repair entry points immediately.
Protein Deficiency Causing Feather Drop and Baldness in Chickens
If your hens don’t receive enough protein, you may notice a variety of problems; one of which being baldness.
If your hen enters into a molt without a decent protein intake, she may not receive enough protein for feather growth.
In addition, this could lead to a loss of feathers, or baldness.
Hens who do not get enough protein in their feed tend to be on the slim side, and may not lay very well either.
My recommendation is to give hens a boost of protein to see if their conditions improvement; this can be done by feeding them game bird feed, scrambled eggs, soldier fly larvae, and meal worms.
Parasites: Worms, Mites, & Lice in Chickens
If you notice that your hens are sickly, slim, pale, eating poorly, and lethargic with baldness, you might be dealing with a far more serious problem.
Baldness can be a symptom of other issues within the hen’s body, including parasite overload.
If you see a pale comb and your bird is slim (and they are fed a good diet), immediately clean and treat the coop for mites and lice.
Remove all straw, and use hay or pellets as bedding instead. Straw gives mites and lice a place to hide within its hollow stems.
If you do not see an improvement in comb or waddle color within 7 days, or an increase in weight or activity, begin treating the chickens for worms. Worms tend to be less of an issue in a home flock than mites or lice.
Another option is to feed the birds pumpkin seeds, diatomaceous earth, and cayenne pepper while treating the coop for mites and lice, as these natural remedies can fight off worms without exposing the chickens to too many chemicals or medicines all at once.
