A “vaulted” chicken skull. Very common, yet unknown to many skull collectors. Most crested chickens have this type of skull. (“Crested” is the term for the large pom-pom of feathers on top of the head of some breeds, two well-known examples are Silkie and Polish chickens) It is thought that this skull mutation was initially just a side effect of selective breeding for large amounts of feathers on top of the head (they weren’t being bred for the deformed skull) Now many breeders are of the opinion that a sizable knob makes the pom-pom look larger, so now the birds are bred for a large knob as well as the feather volume of the pom-pom. The knobs typically have holes in them and look like Swiss cheese. The severity of the holes varies from bird to bird. Some are missing large sections of skull and only have skin protecting their brain, therefore can be mortally injured by mild head trauma.
The little spot on the tip of its beak is the egg caruncle/egg tooth to help the chick cut its way out of the shell.
