Some new chicken behavior has begun around here. It seems 3 of our hens are ganging up on our black cochin and plucking all the feathers from her head. She's bald! These hens have been together now for about 4 months. Does anyone know what would cause this? Any ideas about how to stop it? or will they just work it out?
About that age they get naughty! Are your chickens in a small space? That will sometimes cause chickens to pick at each other. I had my polish crested roo get his head feathers pecked out pretty bad a couple times, with lots of blood to go with it, and I ended up just separating him for a couple days each time. Turns out it only happened when they were all sitting side by side and roosting late in the evening. So, I made sure they didn't have any more light than necessary, and that helped a LOT. Hope your little gal gets a prettier, nicer hairdo soon!
Assuming you have enough room, is the black cochin the only one you have that's different from the rest? Try putting some pine tar on the cochin's head. Not too heavy, just enough so the others will get a taste of it if they peck. They won't like the taste and they'll quickly learn not to peck her head.
