bare spots on the rump area

[patrolman490]

hello,

I have two amercuanas and 4 RIRs, they are all about a year old and doing well except that I have noticed that they are all losing some feathers in the rump area and the some of the RIRs are getting pecked at that area by the others causing some bleeding etc. Is this normal? It has been very cold up here not sure if that has anything to do with it. They are all warm at night no frostbite or anything. I am also getting six eggs a day

Thank you

 

[chookchick]

Sounds like you are starting to get a pecking problem. This can escalate fast, so get on top of it as fast as you can. Get some blu-kote to spray the pecked areas with, hopefully that should make them less attractive. Look over all the hens very closely for mites or lice, especially nits on the feathers near the vent. I would supplement their diet with protein--such as quality cat food, low-salt fish, washed cottage cheese, sunflower seeds, meal worms, and make sure they have oyster shell available. If it has been cold, they are probably stuck in the coop more, and get bored and into trouble. Try putting up some hanging cabbage heads, get a suet feeder with a seed block inside and hang that up. Give them a pile of alfalfa hay to dig around in. If you are using supplemental light, I'm afraid you'll have to turn that off as it will encourage pecking.