Feather eating hen - keep (separated), cure, cull?

[AlinaR]

Hello everyone,
I have a problem with a feather eater and would love to hear your advice.
My setup: seven hens in a 700 square feet run with bushes, perches, ladders ect. I have five feeders with layer feed and a bowl with oyster shells that are always filled. In addition, the girls get fruits and/or vegetables and/or rice/noodles pretty much every day. They get mealworms about every other day.
Almost three weeks ago I noticed our black Sussex called Hela picking the other hens‘ feathers and eating them.
After reading a few threads here I isolated her from the others for a bit more than ten days, then tried to put her back with the flock, but that same day I caught her doing it again
Now she is back in her „cell“ (roughly 40 square feet with maybe 25 to 30 feet of floor space, a small „sick Coop“ she does not use and several perches (see pictures). Today I added some additional shelter for the roost she likes to sleep on.
My question: do you have any other idea what I could do to cure her?
And if not - would you keep her separated or cull her? I really hesitate to kill a healthy chicken and she seems content, but I don‘t feel good about her being alone , either.
Any advice is welcome

 

[Gigachad poultry]

Hello everyone,
I have a problem with a feather eater and would love to hear your advice.
My setup: seven hens in a 700 square feet run with bushes, perches, ladders ect. I have five feeders with layer feed and a bowl with oyster shells that are always filled. In addition, the girls get fruits and/or vegetables and/or rice/noodles pretty much every day. They get mealworms about every other day.
Almost three weeks ago I noticed our black Sussex called Hela picking the other hens‘ feathers and eating them.
After reading a few threads here I isolated her from the others for a bit more than ten days, then tried to put her back with the flock, but that same day I caught her doing it again
Now she is back in her „cell“ (roughly 40 square feet with maybe 25 to 30 feet of floor space, a small „sick Coop“ she does not use and several perches (see pictures). Today I added some additional shelter for the roost she likes to sleep on.
My question: do you have any other idea what I could do to cure her?
And if not - would you keep her separated or cull her? I really hesitate to kill a healthy chicken and she seems content, but I don‘t feel good about her being alone , either.
Any advice is welcome

You could keep her with a rooster that won't put up with feather eating. That way he will correct her and she (should) eventually stop or if you are okay with this other idea, she could live in the small coop with a bigger type of poultry like a turkey that she wouldn't have an easy time bullying. That way she has a friend but one that is too difficult to bully.

 

[AlinaR]

You could keep her with a rooster that won't put up with feather eating. That way he will correct her and she (should) eventually stop or if you are okay with this other idea, she could live in the small coop with a bigger type of poultry like a turkey that she wouldn't have an easy time bullying. That way she has a friend but one that is too difficult to bully.

Thank you for your advice Unfortunately, I cannot have a rooster (we promised the neighbours). The other idea sounds interesting but I‘m afraid my separated area is a bit small.

 

[Gigachad poultry]

Thank you for your advice Unfortunately, I cannot have a rooster (we promised the neighbours). The other idea sounds interesting but I‘m afraid my separated area is a bit small.

Well I guess that ducks are an option as a non bulliable friends but they can be aggressive with chickens. Pheasants are another option but they do tend to need permits. I think if you get a smaller female turkey that will be fine. But you could always move the turkey to the larger run for a few days here and there so it has more room but it gets to spend most of it's time with the hen.

 

[Tonyroo]

Feed her high protein feed. She's feeling imbalanced so she's trying to find other items to fill her need. You can also give her a can of fish if she'll eat it.

 

[AlinaR]

Well I guess that ducks are an option as a non bulliable friends but they can be aggressive with chickens. Pheasants are another option but they do tend to need permits. I think if you get a smaller female turkey that will be fine. But you could always move the turkey to the larger run for a few days here and there so it has more room but it gets to spend most of it's time with the hen.

Thank you, I will definitely look into that

 

[AlinaR]

Feed her high protein feed. She's feeling imbalanced so she's trying to find other items to fill her need. You can also give her a can of fish if she'll eat it.

I thought about protein, too, but din‘t mealworms provide it, too? Will look into fish as an option, thank you.

 

[Gigachad poultry]

I thought about protein, too, but din‘t mealworms provide it, too? Will look into fish as an option, thank you.

I know someone who will feed their chickens mainly mice every other week! I could never mainly because of the price but it also makes me sad.

 

[AlinaR]

I know someone who will feed their chickens mainly mice every other week! I could never mainly because of the price but it also makes me sad.

Ok, I know chickens will eat small animals (mine catch the occasional frog) but I cannot see myself feeding them mice…

 

[NatJ]

You could get chick starter (which has higher protein than layer feed), and put out a dish of that. Or you could get gamebird/turkey starter, which tends to have an even higher amount of protein.

If she just needs protein, I would expect her to eat quite a bit of the higher protein feed and leave the feathers alone. If that does solve the problem, you could keep the higher protein feed available at all times (probably cheaper than building a separate pen for her to live alone!)

If she is picking for other reasons, of course that will not solve the problem. But it is relatively easy to try, so it might be a good first step.

(It is safe for all laying hens to eat chick starter. Just make sure they have plenty of oyster shell available, because chick starter does not have enough calcium for laying hens. The levels of all other nutrients are fine.)