3 month Old Chickens Pecking/Plucking Mother Hen Bald & Bloody-

[JP101010]

Hi
I have a Broody Silkie That Has Sucessfully Raised 2 SLW's and One Cochin Bantam- All Pullets- the 4 of them have their own coop at night and are put in a covered run during the day. within one day last week mama chicken was bald on her poof on top of her head and her feathers off her toes - with dried blood from the feather holes(im sure thats not the technical term

) - no open wounds- no Dermatology issues-. We caught the two SLW's in the act - ganging up on her ! since they are now 3-4 months old they are much bigger than her. So we have them in seperate coops at night and seperate runs during the day.. My question is after mama is healed should i try re introducing them to the same run every day, i dont want to have to keep them seperated forever. im thinking being all 4 in the coop is maybe what caused them to start pecking her?.. maybe boredom. also one of my very elderly clients talks about a red dye that her father painted hens with to prevent plucking & pecking (bad taste) and to see who is the plucker/ pecker <- HA

My poor beautiful Miesha

, She went from Sexy Silkie To Bald Voulcher

Its taking forever to grow back? How long Will it take for a silkie??

 

[Anianna]

There is a Pick-No-More lotion you could try. Are the babies on grower food? I believe a protein deficiency can cause this kind of behavior, though that shouldn't be an issue on grower feed. Overcrowding can also cause this sort of behavior.