bullies and feather picking need help very soon, hens going down hill

[rhodered10]

I have 10 chickens that all live together under pretty good conditions but over this hard winter they have picked up the habbit of picking on each other and it is really going too far. one of the hens is looking pretty bad with bare patches on her back, chest, butt and neck and now that the weather is nice and sunny she is starting to get sun burned and i have also noticed that the bigger girls are starting to do what roosters do with hens except it is with just girls, we do not have a roo but we are thinking about getting one to solve the girls male behavior towards other chickens but we are concerned that a roo will just put the damaged hens into even worse shape. the problem is not solving itself and i have no idea what to do next other than clip the hens beaks but i dont want to have to resort to that and i would hate to have to have my chickens destroyed. i am getting pretty desperate and my hens are only getting into worse shape so please please if any of you have anything that could help it would be appreciated.

 

[La Mike]

You may not can do anything about it but try putting higher protein in their diet in case thats the issue. Oyster shell also. If it is a bullying issue the only way I know to fix it is seperate them.

 

[rhodered10]

thanks i should also mention that i have treid blu kote but that doesnt seem to help at all i need something to stop the picking, we have also treid seperation with a door in the coop but they found a way to fly over altho seperation is still an option i would like to consider an easier solution first i just hope that i wont have to resort to seperation but i will if i need too thanks again

 

[La Mike]

Hope it works out for you.
You can clip their wings and keep them from flying over. They should molt before long and get them back but may be enough time to end some of it.

 

[CCourson05]

I had a really bad issue until I switched to a 22% layer feed...

 

[drumstick diva]

Some people have luck with pinless peepers

 

[La Mike]

As a last resort you could always put blinders on them like I do with pheasants

 

[rhodered10]

thanks for all of your help i have decided to give pin less peepers a try it seems like it should work but i will also try giving them more protein in their diet and keeping them entertained, thanks again

 

[rolffamily]

I have some new hens that are stressed with the new home and one was pecking the feathers off another. I put a Flock Block in the coop to give them a diversion and it absolutely worked. I also toss in a handful of BOSS for extra protein.

 

[off-grid hen]

Quote:
what feed is that?