- Aug 22, 2011
- 101
- 1
- 91
Hi everyone,
This whole feather eating thing has been an ongoing problem for a while now. I've tried a lot of different thing - changing their diet, increasing the coop size, etc. - but so far, none of these things have helped.
Currently, I mix my own chicken feed. This is what I put into the mix: organic layer grain, BOSS, cracked corn, diatomaceous earth, a calcium supplement, and flax seeds. They also get daily kitchen scraps, and grit + oyster shell free choice. I also put electrolytes/vitamin powder in their water.
As for the coop setup, I have my six girls (two of which are bantams), and 3 boys all in an 8' x 8' coop + an attached 8' x 16' run. The three boys are from my last hatch. They have not fully matured, therefore there are not any aggression problems as of yet. Unfortunately, I can't keep any roosters due to where I live, so come spring time I will be re-homing them
I would love to keep one of the boys to help my flock establish a pecking order, because as of right now I'm not really sure there is one (which I know is a potential cause of the feather eating issue), however, I noticed my original flock of just the six girls had the same problem of eating each other's feathers, even though there was a definite pecking order.
So, with that being said, I am open to any suggestions or advice that anyone has to offer me! I'd really like to solve this problem & not just ignore it. Even though at this point it's fairly minor, I know it can turn into something a lot worse.
Thank you
This whole feather eating thing has been an ongoing problem for a while now. I've tried a lot of different thing - changing their diet, increasing the coop size, etc. - but so far, none of these things have helped.
Currently, I mix my own chicken feed. This is what I put into the mix: organic layer grain, BOSS, cracked corn, diatomaceous earth, a calcium supplement, and flax seeds. They also get daily kitchen scraps, and grit + oyster shell free choice. I also put electrolytes/vitamin powder in their water.
As for the coop setup, I have my six girls (two of which are bantams), and 3 boys all in an 8' x 8' coop + an attached 8' x 16' run. The three boys are from my last hatch. They have not fully matured, therefore there are not any aggression problems as of yet. Unfortunately, I can't keep any roosters due to where I live, so come spring time I will be re-homing them
So, with that being said, I am open to any suggestions or advice that anyone has to offer me! I'd really like to solve this problem & not just ignore it. Even though at this point it's fairly minor, I know it can turn into something a lot worse.
Thank you
