Last summer I was dealing with some feather pickers in my flock. Thanks to the info and helpfulness of the BYC the feather picking appears to be over.
Here is what I did.
1. The most important thing was Added pinless peppers to the 3 birds that were doing the picking.
2. Added Additional animal protein. Livers and carcasses of different animals to up the protein intake. BOSS was given too but you really need animal protein to really boost their protein %.
3. Applied blue kote on any bare spots or bleeding areas to reduce picking. If a hen was molting and one of her new feather pins were bleeding I would apply blue kote.
4. Added cabbages and flock blocks to the run to keep them entertained during the winter. Caution when using flock blocks is that it is only 8-10% protein, I added extra animal protein with flock blocks.
5. Gave them a fenced in pasture of 3000 sq ft. Free ranging will work too. Gives them more space and gives them something to do than being locked up in a run all day.
Once I gave them the extra pasture I removed the peepers from one hen every 2-3 weeks. If no feather picking was going on I would remove another peeper from anther hen. I removed the last peeper a few weeks ago and all seems well. No cries of pain coming from the coop when someone gets a feather pulled out.
I also plan to added a Japanese beetle trap/feeding station which should help keep them entertained and give them extra protein.
Thank you BYC for info needed to break this bad habit.
Here is what I did.
1. The most important thing was Added pinless peppers to the 3 birds that were doing the picking.
2. Added Additional animal protein. Livers and carcasses of different animals to up the protein intake. BOSS was given too but you really need animal protein to really boost their protein %.
3. Applied blue kote on any bare spots or bleeding areas to reduce picking. If a hen was molting and one of her new feather pins were bleeding I would apply blue kote.
4. Added cabbages and flock blocks to the run to keep them entertained during the winter. Caution when using flock blocks is that it is only 8-10% protein, I added extra animal protein with flock blocks.
5. Gave them a fenced in pasture of 3000 sq ft. Free ranging will work too. Gives them more space and gives them something to do than being locked up in a run all day.
Once I gave them the extra pasture I removed the peepers from one hen every 2-3 weeks. If no feather picking was going on I would remove another peeper from anther hen. I removed the last peeper a few weeks ago and all seems well. No cries of pain coming from the coop when someone gets a feather pulled out.
I also plan to added a Japanese beetle trap/feeding station which should help keep them entertained and give them extra protein.
Thank you BYC for info needed to break this bad habit.
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