Feather picking; what would you do?

[kathrync]

I have 7 hens. 6 of them show signs of feather picking. A couple of them look absolutely awful... bare butts and backs, broken tail feathers. I suspect that the RIR who's feathers look ok is the culprit, although I haven't caught her in the act. What would you do?

A: Cull her, and hope that the other birds grow their feathers back this fall. If I do this, I will probably get a few more baby chicks this spring.
B: Separate the culprit from the rest of the flock for a few weeks and see if she stops picking (would this even work?)
C: Cull the whole flock and start over, because I really don't know if they're all doing it or not. And now would be the time to get a new flock, since chicks are in the feed stores now.

I would also like to know how to prevent this behavior in the future. I've had plenty of chickens in the past, and never had a feather picking problem until now. Is it just something that some birds start doing for no apparent reason?

 

[azygous]

This is the most exasperating chicken behavior there is. I'm not new at chicken keeping, but I still haven't gotten a handle on this problem. It's a brain wiring issue, not a dietary deficiency as most people will try to insist. You can feed top sirloin medium rare to your feather picker and she will polish off the steak, and go pick some feathers for desert.

About the only thing I've ever seen work are pinless peepers. You might give that a try. But if you aren't attached to the RIR, culling would be the only certain way to solve the problem.

To be certain you have identified the culprit, I advise sitting quietly in the run some afternoon while you chickens are loafing and observe. Afternoons in springtime are the most likely periods when feather picking takes place, although mornings in the coop as the chickens are waking is another time when this goes on.

 

[kathrync]

This is the most exasperating chicken behavior there is. I'm not new at chicken keeping, but I still haven't gotten a handle on this problem. It's a brain wiring issue, not a dietary deficiency as most people will try to insist. You can feed top sirloin medium rare to your feather picker and she will polish off the steak, and go pick some feathers for desert.

About the only thing I've ever seen work are pinless peepers. You might give that a try. But if you aren't attached to the RIR, culling would be the only certain way to solve the problem.

To be certain you have identified the culprit, I advise sitting quietly in the run some afternoon while you chickens are loafing and observe. Afternoons in springtime are the most likely periods when feather picking takes place, although mornings in the coop as the chickens are waking is another time when this goes on.

Thank you! I'm going to order some pinless peepers from amazon tonight! I hope they work, because my flock is only a year old and culling is my last resort.

 

[neo71665]

The peepers and putting the a-hole chook in jail didn't work for me long term. Each method did work for a short time. Jail put her lower in the pecking order but she worked her way back up in about 2 months. I left the peepers on for 2 months and all it stopped was her picking on everybody. I've also tried to put a bunch of stuff in the run so the other chickens can hide and run around to get away from her.

What has finally started working is I expanded my 20x10 heavily secured run to add a daytime I'm only home to watch with unsecured 15x25 extra section.

I'm not attached to mine, they are farm animals to me. She is still giving me an egg daily but her one egg isn't making up for the well being of the rest of the flock. She is pushing being past her usefulness and about to be supper.

 

[kathrync]

The peepers and putting the a-hole chook in jail didn't work for me long term. Each method did work for a short time. Jail put her lower in the pecking order but she worked her way back up in about 2 months. I left the peepers on for 2 months and all it stopped was her picking on everybody. I've also tried to put a bunch of stuff in the run so the other chickens can hide and run around to get away from her.

What has finally started working is I expanded my 20x10 heavily secured run to add a daytime I'm only home to watch with unsecured 15x25 extra section.

I'm not attached to mine, they are farm animals to me. She is still giving me an egg daily but her one egg isn't making up for the well being of the rest of the flock. She is pushing being past her usefulness and about to be supper.

I have a 6x10ft secure coop with an attached, open-top run that is almost twice that size. I let the girls into their run for most of the day, and even let them wander in the yard periodically to do a little pest control around our fruit trees. I don't think it's a space issue. Although, I do wish I had more space to put "hiding places" in my coop. I may have to get more creative with that

 

[PsychoChickenLady]

Thank you! I'm going to order some pinless peepers from amazon tonight! I hope they work, because my flock is only a year old and culling is my last resort.

I just put pinless peepers on one of my hens ~ instantly stopped at least her aggressive behaviour. I'm still watching the rest of the flock to see if any more need them. Good luck!

 

[LJHC]

I recently introduced a new group of hens to the coop and one female jumped over another to attack one of the newest members. She continued to attack for a good two minutes or so. I removed her and put her into isolation for about 5 days and when I returned her to the group she was really quite mild. I offer this as a potential solution.

 

[PsychoChickenLady]

I recently introduced a new group of hens to the coop and one female jumped over another to attack one of the newest members. She continued to attack for a good two minutes or so. I removed her and put her into isolation for about 5 days and when I returned her to the group she was really quite mild. I offer this as a potential solution.

I hope that works with mine. She had pinless peepers, then she started jumping on and biting. She's been in the doghouse for over a week, and every time I let her out with the others she is itching for a fight.