BR still picking on others...What would you do?

[LindsayB]

I posted a few weeks ago about my barred rock hen picking the feathers off of the other 3 girls... and it still has not stopped. In fact the other three look worse...Their backs and vent areas are bald. except for the long tail feathers. They used to be so pretty

I started giving them more free range in the mornings and afternoon thinking maybe they were bored. I hung 2 cages in the run that I added veggies to daily and I've been making homemade "flock blocks" for them every week. The blocks are made with oatmeal, dry cat food, wheat germ, mealworms and mixed bird seed. I also added the manna pro game bird conditioner for extra protein to their feed. I'm still puzzled as to why she doing this and every time I see her picking at them it makes me so mad! I'm almost to the point where I want to turn her into dinner......Am I being too harsh? What would ya'll do? I'm just sick of my other 3 hens being constantly pecked. I'm so afraid shes going to draw blood.....

 

[CMV]

I am culling some of my newest birds for the exact same reasons. I have some feather picking going on and I can't tolerate it anymore. I have been using pinless peepers on the worst ones, but it seems I may have at least one more that I haven't caught, yet. My birds look embarrassingly bad after this long winter. Between the rough roo and the feather picking my girls look like they've been through the wringer.

You could try separating the picker for a couple weeks to knock her down on the pecking order. That may nip the problem. Have you tried any of the picking deterrents on the market? If not, I'd give them a try.

Good luck.