[minibn]

Hi,

I have a borbon turkey stag, who I think is about 2. He's a pet and lives with one turkey hen. I noticed a few months back that he looked like he had started moulting. As always he doesn't pick the best time of year to do this as its quite chilly.

I know it can take a little while for his new feathers to come though, but it seems to be taking about 6 months for a patch on his brest to grow back. He has lost some tail feathers during his moult but they have grown back fully now.

Is this normal?He is a free ranging bird, has standard pellet food daily and is wormed/mite treated regularly.

I have attached a couple of pictures below.


Thanks for reading

Emily

[Fleecewife]

Would he be plucking out the feathers himself to line his mate's nest, like eider ducks do?

His skin looks healthy and clean, just naked 

[minibn]

Hi,

Thank you for that, it could make sense. He is a very doubting stag.

Regards Emily

[Marches Farmer]

If one area is continuously plucked it's unlikely to grow back. We had this one year with one of our large, soft-feathered cockerels, which plucked his wives rear ends, presumably to make mating easier. It worked and the eggs had an excellent fertility rate, but the feathers never grew back (intelligent cockerel - scary thought, eh).  Generally speaking, if the moult takes a long time the feathers will grow back over an equally long period and in the same order. 

[Blondie]

I had a frizzled hen who always looked naked compared to the others. She just didn't have as many feathers, and those that she has would stay in the quill for a long time so she resembled a pink hedgehog.

It was just how she was, generics and she was always slightly sickly.