Chicken Pecking

[Jmdragon08]

Please help!

I noticed a small area of missing feathers on my 7 month old buff orphington the other day.The area is near her tail on her lower back. Well today the area is not just some missing feathers, it has turned in to a whole patch and now bare skin is showing. There is also areas of dry blood and I caught another hen pecking at the area. How can I get other hens to stop pecking at her bare spot ASAP? I don’t have a place to really separate her.

 

[CluckerFamily]

I'm not a fan of blukote but since you can't separate her or the hen doing the pecking you may want to use blukote. But wear old clothes and gloves and don't spray if it is windy.
If chickens see red, they will peck and peck.

 

[ackie]

Do you have any roos? He could be pulling the feathers out during mating and the hen you saw peck her could have just been being opportunistic. You could put a hen saddle on her to prevent the roo from doing damage. Even without a roo, it would stop the hen from messing with that spot as well.

 

[Painted Calls]

Another reason for feather plucking could be space issues.

How many birds do you have? How big is their coop/run?

 

[Jmdragon08]

I'm not a fan of blukote but since you can't separate her or the hen doing the pecking you may want to use blukote. But wear old clothes and gloves and don't spray if it is windy.
If chickens see red, they will peck and peck.

Thank you!! Do you know if this will discourage the hens pecking as well? Or
is it mostly to treat the wounds?

 

[CluckerFamily]

Thank you!! Do you know if this will discourage the hens pecking as well? Or
is it mostly to treat the wounds?

It's to hide the wound, everything it spray touches will turn blue.

 

[Jmdragon08]

Do you have any roos? He could be pulling the feathers out during mating and the hen you saw peck her could have just been being opportunistic. You could put a hen saddle on her to prevent the roo from doing damage. Even without a roo, it would stop the hen from messing with that spot as well.

I don’t believe I have any roosters. The only one I had I got rid of. I think the hen saddle is a great idea. The downfall is finding one quickly in a small town . Thank you for this idea!

 

[Jmdragon08]

It's to hide the wound, everything it spray touches will turn blue.

Awesome makes sense! I’ll will look into this thank you!!

 

[Jmdragon08]

Another reason for feather plucking could be space issues.

How many birds do you have? How big is their coop/run?

I have 11 but they have a decent size coop/run. They always have plenty of food, water, treats, pecking blocks, toys, dirt bath areas and perches etc. It’s possible that they are still getting bored. Im also not sure if she is starting to molt and maybe this was the start of the issue? I’m not sure what area molting starts to happen. I initially thought she might be having a problem with mites when I saw very small dark areas at the base of her feathers near her skin. Turns out it was just tiny specks of dirt after her bath. I was unsure so I bought things to help with mites just in case.

 

[ackie]

I don’t believe I have any roosters. The only one I had I got rid of. I think the hen saddle is a great idea. The downfall is finding one quickly in a small town . Thank you for this idea!

You should be able to find a design template online somewhere and I believe it takes minimal sewing skill.