Help. My chicken is attacking the three others

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Mspiggie

Mspiggie

Hatching
5 Years
Sep 2, 2014
4
0
7
Hi. I have had my chickens a few weeks now. They were molting when I brot them home. They still are but are getting thee new feathers. One of the Rhode Island reds is pecking the others and is getting the new feathers and eating them. What should I do? Do I need to separate her? Everyone is laying eggs. Please help. Thank you.
 
Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

Your bird is probably plucking and eating feathers because she is lacking protein. Feathers take up 85% protein and when chickens molt, they need extra. So, that is why she is eating the feathers. You need to stop her from doing this as it can cause crop problems.

Give them foods such as mealworms, quinoa, peas, meat scraps and oatmeal. These will all help them get the extra protein they need. Mealworms are possibly the best you can feed them.

Check the one bird's crop for the next few nights also to make sure everything is passing correctly. It should feel hard at night and empty in the morning.

Good luck and welcome to the flock!
 
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Glad you joined us!


I'm sorry you're having pecking problems with your flock.
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Mountain Peeps gave you good advice. Good luck!
 
Hello there and welcome to BYC!
frow.gif


Is this bird plucking the newly growing feathers off the bird? I have had this issue in the past when I have hard molters....molters that go bald and have all these pin feathers coming in. If you have one bird that is picking out these new feathers, you will either need to separate the one plucking them or the one that is being plucked. Many times they pluck these because the bird looks different. Something new looking. And there is a LOT of nutrients in these blood feathers. So you may need to do some separating until this bird grows her feathers in.

As for eating them, once they start it is hard to get them to stop. Mountain Peeps as left you with some great advice to help with that.

Good luck and welcome to our flock!
 
Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! You've gotten some good suggestions above. If the one bird has made it a habit, you might consider putting pinless peepers on her to see if that helps.
 
Welcome to BYC!

You will find a lot of good information here. Keep on asking questions and you will get many good answers.

You may also want to read the FAQ below.

You may want to look at a pecking stopper spray available at your local feed store.
 

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