Broken quills?

[janamacdon]

A few weeks ago, be brought home three pullets from a local farm. One of them only had a few feathers on her tail, but since she looked so much small than the rest, I figured she was still growing more feathers. It has gotten much worse, and now it looks like the quills are broken and they are bleeding. She does not appear to have grown much either. I do not see her being picked on my the others, and she seems pretty happy otherwise. Can anyone tell me what might be going on with her?

Thanks! ~Jana

 

[coach723]

Do you know how old they are? I would guess she's being feather picked, often that happens while on the roosts. New forming feathers still have a blood supply to them, so when broken will bleed and that will draw even more pecking. Mature feathers won't bleed any more, the blood supply withdraws once they are fully formed. The stubs, pin feathers and broken shafts may be drawing attention also. Once bleeding is stopped, you can try using blu-kote (it stains, wear gloves and don't apply inside your house, if the bird shakes it will go everywhere!) to disguise them. May or may not work. Some use Peck-no-more or other anti pecking treatments, I've never had much luck with them. But they do exist if you want to try them. Or you may need to separate her until the she's feathered enough to cover the area better. It may be a normal juvenile molt (depending on age) or she may be trying to re-feather out due to previous damage from picking by other birds. Increasing roosting space might also help, when birds are feather picking space is often a factor.

 

[janamacdon]

Thank you so much for your response! When I got them, they were supposed to be about 13 weeks (so about 15 weeks now). This one is much smaller, and I do not think she is that old. Thank you for all of this great information. I applied vetericyn because that's what I had on hand, and this evening it looks like the bleeding has subsided. I have separated her as you suggested, and will continue to do that (at least at night to start) to see if it improves. Thanks so much for your advice!