Help! Hens plucking rooster - badly!

[azygous]

I need to leave for town in an hour from now. PLMROCKER PM me ASAP with your name and address!

The solution I've always ended up using is to segregate the rooster to his own quarters - his own coop and run. There is just something about those colorful, slender, tender rooster feathers that hens find irresistible.

 

[Plymrocker]

PM'd you, Azygous!! Hopefully before you've left for town. Thank yo so very much!
I am sure my husband has that tool. If not, we'll get some!

You have offered us HOPE, that there may be a solution for this. We can't thank you enough for your generosity!

 

[Plymrocker]

Done Azygous!!
We'll be working on separate quarters. It seems it'll be a necessity, for chicken-keeping, long-term.

 

[Plymrocker]

Hi Janet! Thank you for your response in my thread here. Your reply has added to our education about breeds.
I should probably add this info in my signature, but we have a completely mixed bunch:
Rooster: Wesummer
Hens (1 of each) - White Plymouth Rock, Buff Orpington, Australorpe, Red Star (Golden Comet), Silver-Laced Wyandott, and a Rhode Island Red.

*We THINK the Buff Orpington and the Red Star are the biggest problem....but we catch them all doing it.

 

[Plymrocker]

Good idea, Aart. We have tried to mickey-mouse something, a day or two out of desperation, using cardboard. (Which they were terrified of.) The problem is the coop door, for everyone to be able to get in or out as the please, and also the ability to let any hens get to their nesting boxes when they need to. I think my husband will be back to some more coop-construction this spring!
Thanks so much for your thoughts. I'll be sharing them with him.

 

[Plymrocker]

Yes...we need to do something like this, as well.

 

[JanetMarie]

Your breeds are all the docile, calm type (supposedly), but if they're hatchery stock that may make a difference. Although I don't know about the Red Star. I know from my flock that if one starts to cannibalize that others may learn to do the same. That's another reason I don't keep any hens that start that habit, and what I've witnessed is that the cannibalistic bird will not change.

 

[Plymrocker]

Dear @azygous ,

We got the peepers in the mail very quickly, and put them on all of the chickens. It was hard to tell if any of the hens were really innocent all of the time, so they all got them, just in case. It went really well! My husband was like a pro from the start. Sometimes a crown was kind of in the way but, he managed. We did the hens one by one, spending some time with each one to let them adjust before getting the next but, they actually got used to it very quickly. Were eating in minutes. Hopefully the rooster will have some real time to heal now, and come spring, when they all have more opportunity to get out and free-range and be busy, we'll remove the peepers. We'll hold onto them for any future need though.

Can't thank you enough for sending the peepers to us!! You are very kind.
Here's a photo of the first hen who got peepered: the Buff Orpington, 'Kingston'. The dry crown and jowls drive me crazy! We keep massaging them with virgin coconut oil but, it's not helping much.
Take care and thanks again!
- The Richard Family

 

[azygous]

Glad they came okay and I hope they continue to do the job!

Be aware it is possible for some chickens to adapt so well to the peepers, they begin feather picking again. It seems that their brain is somehow capable of re-wiring itself itself. So keep watch.

 

[Plymrocker]

I just wanted to post a quick update, that the peepers really did the trick! Many thanks to @azygous , again! We took them off just before spring, and they also have the opportunity to really free-range all day now. So they are busy and very content all day. Our roosters feathers grew in beautifully, and he's looking quite dapper again. I appreciate all of the help we always get here.