Missing Chest Feathers
05-03-2016, 05:34 AM
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 1
Missing Chest Feathers
Western NY here...
The jake I thought I killed this morning turned out to be a bearded hen. A first for me... Went to butcher her and found that the feathers on her chest were gone. In fact, I didn't have to pull one feather to get to the breast bone and breast meat. Everything else looked ok. No apparent sores, or tumors, and the like... Is it common for hens to be missing feathers on their chest? Did she pluck 'em herself for her nest...
...befuddled.
The jake I thought I killed this morning turned out to be a bearded hen. A first for me... Went to butcher her and found that the feathers on her chest were gone. In fact, I didn't have to pull one feather to get to the breast bone and breast meat. Everything else looked ok. No apparent sores, or tumors, and the like... Is it common for hens to be missing feathers on their chest? Did she pluck 'em herself for her nest...
...befuddled.
05-03-2016, 06:38 AM
#2
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Allegan, MI
Posts: 8,019
She was either fighting like the males do or did exactly what you mentioned if she was mature enough to make a nest and was laying eggs. It does sound like the latter to me though if she didn't have any cuts or bruises from fighting.
Last edited by Topgun 3006; 05-03-2016 at 06:40 AM. Reason: Spelling
