Relentless, Sudden Vent Pecking

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

My 3+ y/o RIR, Willy Honka, suddenly became obsessed with vent pecking (virtually overnight). I think it started with boredom--due to monsoon-like weather I hadn't been supervised free-ranging them as much, and Willy is an avid forager. Unfortunately, it now seems to be all she thinks about I the run and relentlessly targets the butts if my two molting hens. Their poor behinds are bruised and scabby.

I put Willy in the basement for now and I'm picking up "Pick No More" today. I've also ordered pinless peepers for her. Any advice would be much appreciated. I've raised Willy and her flockmates since day old chicks, and they are each beloved. It breaks my heart that this is happening when they're supposed to be heading into their laid back, golden years.

 

[DobieLover]

Definitely keep her isolated from the flock although there is no reason not to keep her in a large wire dog crate with them until the pinless peepers arrive.
I would get them on her right away then let her out. You can also put pine tar around the vents of her victims. It is an excellent protectant and has antibiotic properties as well. Chickens certainly don't like to eat it.
It wouldn't hurt to offer the flock a tin of sardines 2 or 3 times a week for a protein boost as she may have taken a liking to the protein in the tissue.
I think the pinless peepers will really help. Monitor her nares to make sure they aren't rubbing at the area and I'd leave them on her for a minimum of a month to really try to break her of the habit.
Best of luck with her!

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

Definitely keep her isolated from the flock although there is no reason not to keep her in a large wire dog crate with them until the pinless peepers arrive.
I would get them on her right away then let her out. You can also put pine tar around the vents of her victims. It is an excellent protectant and has antibiotic properties as well. Chickens certainly don't like to eat it.
It wouldn't hurt to offer the flock a tin of sardines 2 or 3 times a week for a protein boost as she may have taken a liking to the protein in the tissue.
I think the pinless peepers will really help. Monitor her nares to make sure they aren't rubbing at the area and I'd leave them on her for a minimum of a month to really try to break her of the habit.
Best of luck with her!

Thanks for your thoughtful advice. I'm so nervous about the pinless peepers but it seems to be my best bet.

Would you recommend pine tar in addition to pick no more? Here is my worst chicken's vent. I hope it's not getting infected and that topical care will be enough. I'd sprayed with vetericyn and put some triple antibiotic on the worst sores. The main sore is blocked by a feather growing in so you can't see that it's middle is a little ulcerated looming (almost like the white of a blister).

 

[Zoohtasim]

My 3+ y/o RIR, Willy Honka, suddenly became obsessed with vent pecking (virtually overnight). I think it started with boredom--due to monsoon-like weather I hadn't been supervised free-ranging them as much, and Willy is an avid forager. Unfortunately, it now seems to be all she thinks about I the run and relentlessly targets the butts if my two molting hens. Their poor behinds are bruised and scabby.

I put Willy in the basement for now and I'm picking up "Pick No More" today. I've also ordered pinless peepers for her. Any advice would be much appreciated. I've raised Willy and her flockmates since day old chicks, and they are each beloved. It breaks my heart that this is happening when they're supposed to be heading into their laid back, golden years.

View attachment 3204069

Experienced this back in December-February and it was the worst! My hen Swiddy started picking on Kaak and Chipi's (her sisters) vent feathers out of boredom for not being free ranged anymore. I had to separate her. I felt extremely bad to separate the sisters whom I raised together from chickhood in my own house. So, I'd like to say some things.

1) Be careful of her plucking out her own feathers :
Swiddy, after being separated, started to pluck her own feathers out. THAT was the worst part. How do I separate her from her own self? So probably you'll have to use some collar blocking thing to prevent her from plucking her feathers (aka prevent it from escalating). For me, I was lucky. I could free range her again just when she started plucking her own feathers out. That pretty much solved my problem.

2) Be careful of others picking up on her behaviour :
Once swiddy started to free range again, for the first couple of days, she still wanted to eat the feathers (she eventually stopped). Some other hens actually picked up on her behaviour and started vent picking too! But thank god that never escalated and stopped.

3) Giving her toys :
When swiddy was in her vent picking phase, I gave her some chicken toys to keep herself busy. Toys that let her do some digging, running (as much as possible in the little room she was kept in), flying and general fun chicken stuff! The end result of playing with those toys was worms, boiled eggs and general protein stuff. That really helped to calm her down, but free ranging her is what actually stopped her.

4) Particular feather preference :
Swiddy only ever picked out Kaak's black feathers! Never chipi's orange feathers. Just letting you know that maybe, just maybe, your hen has a preference too.

I hope these provide you with atleast something new. I'm not any experienced chicken keeper but because I faced this problem, I thought I might as well share it. I hope your hen stops vent picking soon. Good luck

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

Experienced this back in December-February and it was the worst! My hen Swiddy started picking on Kaak and Chipi's (her sisters) vent feathers out of boredom for not being free ranged anymore. I had to separate her. I felt extremely bad to separate the sisters whom I raised together from chickhood in my own house. So, I'd like to say some things.

1) Be careful of her plucking out her own feathers :
Swiddy, after being separated, started to pluck her own feathers out. THAT was the worst part. How do I separate her from her own self? So probably you'll have to use some collar blocking thing to prevent her from plucking her feathers (aka prevent it from escalating). For me, I was lucky. I could free range her again just when she started plucking her own feathers out. That pretty much solved my problem.

2) Be careful of others picking up on her behaviour :
Once swiddy started to free range again, for the first couple of days, she still wanted to eat the feathers (she eventually stopped). Some other hens actually picked up on her behaviour and started vent picking too! But thank god that never escalated and stopped.

3) Giving her toys :
When swiddy was in her vent picking phase, I gave her some chicken toys to keep herself busy. Toys that let her do some digging, running (as much as possible in the little room she was kept in), flying and general fun chicken stuff! The end result of playing with those toys was worms, boiled eggs and general protein stuff. That really helped to calm her down, but free ranging her is what actually stopped her.

4) Particular feather preference :
Swiddy only ever picked out Kaak's black feathers! Never chipi's orange feathers. Just letting you know that maybe, just maybe, your hen has a preference too.

I hope these provide you with atleast something new. I'm not any experienced chicken keeper but because I faced this problem, I thought I might as well share it. I hope your hen stops vent picking soon. Good luck

Thanks so much for sharing your experience and insights! What sort of toys did you get?

Willy seems to be targeting the vents of our two molting hens who already have bare vents and blood feathers coming in (bare because they'd had a bath and trim about a month back). I think it's enticing to her. Sadly it's not the feathers she's going for--it's the flesh