Chicken bleeding - feather picking

We have used the Blue Kote with the cattle and there has never been a problem with food products from them. I know chickens are different but, I would think they wouldn't have any problems either.

I too am having a terrible time with chickens picking on each other. They are all a year old and have had no problems up till now. It started about a week ago I found that an enormous hole had been pecked deep into the flesh of a buff orpington named Saffron. I put her in a cage within my house and she has been nursing back to health. The offending chicken that I saw picking on all the others, (the only one with no feathers missing too!) I put into an open air cage within the coop. But today I  saw one of the remaining chickens picking on another, they all look terrible too! I am so lost on what to do other than put them each into individual runs. I'm sure I could figure out how, does anyone think this would help, that they could all get back together when injuries heal and start anew?

Two are australorps and two are auracanas. Five total.

With my kids, I used something called "black salve".  It smells a bit like Vick's, very pungent and none of the chicks went back for seconds after getting it in their mouths.

Feedstores may have it or western stores. Also, a brand name is Prid Salve. It didn't work for my girls, they're too tough, LOL! Hawkeye is still getting picked on. The ingredient is Ichthammol.

Well---- my tentative result with my problem peckers is that the feed supplements seem to be working.

Protein in the form of meat scraps, canned tuna, black oil sunflower seed, and yogurt, DAILY, along with AviaCharge 2000 (for amino acids) in the water daily.

I have not seen ANY feather pecking/eating since a few days after starting this regimen. Granted, the bare-backed chicken has not been reintroduced except for short supervised visits....... but even during those times the only one who pecked actual feathers (as opposed to the simple tap-peck to establish pecking order) was the BAAAAAD mean bossy EE who is soon to find a new home. And that's a different type of pecking, it's aggression plain and simple.

I also decreased the amount of supplemental light they were getting. I changed the timer (incrementally over a few days) to come on at 4 am rather than 2 am.

So that's my unscientific result.

I'll also add that the girls feathers look really glossy and great as well, maybe the Avia Charge ?

Stacey

We have recently had this start in our flock.  One hen is really badly picked.  Her back is bare.  I did put blue kote on her because she had an open wound.  It seemed to stop the others from picking the wound.  I didn't separate her as I don't have the facilities to do that.

I thought it might be boredom because since a coyote attack a month ago, we have let them out less and put them back in the run if we leave the house.  So, I have been trying to get them out every day to range.  But that didn't seem to help. 

Two more hens are missing some feathers near their tail this morning.  My beautiful hens!!!  I don't know who is doing it!  They seem to get along so well.

So, I am going to try more protein.  I used to give them yogurt, but have not done so lately.  I have a few cans of tuna that I can spare.  And they will get the leftover steak tonight.  The dog will be ticked!!

How about cooking up some of their eggs and feeding those back to them.  I have heard that a lot of folks do that for extra protein. 

Thanks for the thread, I figured I wouldn't be the only one with the problem!