Why is she pulling her OWN feathers out? PICS-PLEASE HELP!!!!!

So I just got home from work and my favorite chick had a bald back. So I put pick no more all over it and seperated her but she keeps picking at it. She is a bloody and doing a lot of damage even with the anti-pick lotion on and I know it tastes bad because she keeps trying to wipe her beak on everything but won't stop! She is now in her own brooder with shavings, 2 toys, food, scratch, and grit to try to distract her but she won't stop. Has anyone else had this problem?

And a close up...

I am not an expert at all, but I hear when chickens pull out their feathers it may be a sign of needing more protein. Just a thought- Good luck!

Thanks for the input! She is only 4 weeks old and I have been giving them a few meal worms a day with free choice grit. Other than that they are on Purina Start and Grow free choice. Is there anything else I can do??? She did this all within 9 hours!

Oh yeah! I have one. Alice is a one year old SLWyandotte who's bottom of the pecking order. She's under-size because she waits for permission to eat, and she gets pecked constantly.

I think once the feathers get picked out, and the pin feathers start growing in, it's irresistible to all of them, including the victim, to continue to pick out the blood-rich pin feathers. This sets up a never-ending cycle resulting in permanent baldness.

To give Alice a fighting chance, I made her an apron/saddle, and included shoulder ruffles because she was bald on her shoulders as well. She's been wearing the saddle for several months now, dirt bathes, lays eggs, gets mated with by the roo, all wearing her saddle. It keeps her from getting sunburned while the feathers sloooooowly grow back, which is taking so long because she perpetually undernourished due to her place in the flock. I've tried feeding her separately, but she refuses to eat except when with the others. (She needs their permission, it appears.)

Anyway, here's Alice in her apron/saddle.

That is too cute!

What a nice solution to help her out! Even though she's at the bottom of the order, she looks like a million bucks and I bet feels a little better with the protection. Do you sell those? I bet one could really help her gal out - poor thing.

Not to make a joke of a serious concern for her bird, with your creativity, I wonder if you made that type of outfit with some type of light-weight metal, like the Romans had... would the others promote her to a higher position because they'd realize that she's REALLY TOUGHER than they had originally thought.... Just a few pieces sewn on would ring in anyone's ears that decided to peck her. Here's a cool website with bird amour ideas... I'm off to bed. Posting this makes me thing I am deliriously tired.

http://www.gardenbeet.com/unique-outdoor-sculpture.html






Quote: