Bare behinds!

[GKHA]

Hi,
We are first time chicken keepers and have been given 4 Chickens which we were told are Marans.
They all have bare behinds and we need to know if this is normal for Marans?
Thanks 4 info & advice in advance.
Gary

 

[Renee]

Hi Gary,
No, this is not normal. Can you post photos?

Are they plucking out their own feathers, or being pecked by one another? Have they been in tiny cages?

Please keep them quarantined from any other birds you have.

 

[GKHA]

Hi Renee.
Thanks for your reply.
The hens have always been allowed free in garden & coop/run.
There is pecking going on between them but we are trying to work out who's pecking who!
They do not appear to be plucking out their own feathers in this case.
All 4 hens have bare bots - 2 with peck wounds to behinds.

We will try post pics if possible.
Gary

 

[GKHA]

Solutions and advice to help cure the problem needed!
Gary

 

[Renee]

Hi Gary,

If you can figure out which one is doing the pecking you should separate her from the others. If there are wounds you should buy a product called Blu-Kote to cover the bare areas so that the sight of blood and pink flesh does not encourage cannibalism. If they begin to draw blood, you may find it impossible to keep them from eating one another.

Some people have reported good results with a patch of duct tape across the affected area, but that's usually for pecking on the back.

Others have suggested "peepers" which are anti-peck devices.

I have no experience with this, but I have read threads with the following suggestions:

1) increase protein (black oil sunflowers, fish, game bird feed) because sometimes pecking is a protein deficiency.

2) make sure the chickens are busy and occupied all day so that they don't have time to peck. Free range them, or hang a cabbage from a string in the coop just out of their standing range so they have to jump up, etc. Boredom causes pecking.

3. Get rid of or eat the offender and hope that the others have not learned the bad behavior.

Good luck, and you can try a search on feather picking, cannibalism, and peepers to get more info.
Renee

 

[speckledhen]

Are they molting? Mine usually are bare bottomed for a period during their molts. No pests here and no picking going on. You wouldn't believe how long a molt can continue. Give them extra protein and see if that helps.

 

[Chicks_N_Horses]

I received some EEs that had bare behinds and I put neosporin on them. I seperated the 2 pickers and re-homed them. The rest grew back their feathers and are doing fine.