Chickens plucking feathers out of eachother??

[Parront]

I’m gonna say I just learned something. When one pecks another it’s not pain, it’s fear I’m guessing? Or idk maybe I’m missing the entire point

Sounds like the lower-ranking birds are the ones getting plucked. They will let the boss birds pick them to death, and never fight back. If you see blood you will know they are serious. Then the only fix is to remove the bloody bird until it heals, coat it with blue-kote and decide if the low bird is staying, or the one doing the picking. Sometimes the whole flock decides to pick on one low ranked bird. Even if you nurse it back to health, it never is ok again. Have your birds molted? When the feathers grow back they have blood in them that the other birds want. Best wishes with your flock!

 

[Nelson-Collier]

Sounds like the lower-ranking birds are the ones getting plucked. They will let the boss birds pick them to death, and never fight back. If you see blood you will know they are serious. Then the only fix is to remove the bloody bird until it heals, coat it with blue-kote and decide if the low bird is staying, or the one doing the picking. Sometimes the whole flock decides to pick on one low ranked bird. Even if you nurse it back to health, it never is ok again. Have your birds molted? When the feathers grow back they have blood in them that the other birds want. Best wishes with your flock!

It’s just a couple picking on those two. Two birds picking at two birds. I’ve looked them over and I can’t find blood. I’ll look again tomorrow. If it’s just a habit and just picking feathers how can I stop it?

 

[Nelson-Collier]

Sounds like the lower-ranking birds are the ones getting plucked. They will let the boss birds pick them to death, and never fight back. If you see blood you will know they are serious. Then the only fix is to remove the bloody bird until it heals, coat it with blue-kote and decide if the low bird is staying, or the one doing the picking. Sometimes the whole flock decides to pick on one low ranked bird. Even if you nurse it back to health, it never is ok again. Have your birds molted? When the feathers grow back they have blood in them that the other birds want. Best wishes with your flock!

If doesn’t get cold enough around here for them to do a fill molt. Winters get low 40’s and sometimes no lower than freezing which is annoying bc I like the cold before the hot summer. They do lose some feathers though.

 

[Parront]

It’s just a couple picking on those two. Two birds picking at two birds. I’ve looked them over and I can’t find blood. I’ll look again tomorrow. If it’s just a habit and just picking feathers how can I stop it?

Look at the feathers that they are pulling, you might see that the feather has a little pink inside, new feathers are called "Blood feathers" because of that. Just removing the 2 that are getting picked for a little while until the feathers are done growing and not fresh might be all you need to do. Feather pulling is a bad habit, some parrots do it to themselves, even!

 

[Ebony Rose]

Another option is to crate the most dominant aggressor (dog kennel works great) for two or three days. This has the chance to knock her down a peg or two, making her less aggressive.
They make a product (available in the USA) that you spritz on the feathers of the hens being plucked, I don't know the name of it, but it apparently tastes like sin in a bottle... tends to break the habit. (so I'm told).

 

[Nelson-Collier]

Another option is to crate the most dominant aggressor (dog kennel works great) for two or three days. This has the chance to knock her down a peg or two, making her less aggressive.
They make a product (available in the USA) that you spritz on the feathers of the hens being plucked, I don't know the name of it, but it apparently tastes like sin in a bottle... tends to break the habit. (so I'm told).

I know about separating aggressive alpha hens in the upper hierarchy bc when reintroduced they are treated as new chickens and are knocked down. But I will definitely look into quarantining the 2 chickens like we have been! Haha! That’ll set things straight. I’ll also look at the feathers and I’ll look into the product, so I appreciate all the tips, everyone! First the increased protein for a few days, probably about 4 - 7, and I’m gonna start adding more toys in the run (I’m sad that I can’t free range them.. it’s too open and there’s tons of foxes and hawks and coons. And a neighbor is a cat lady and had like 4 cats when she moved here and now she has like 40 or more because they all breed. You can hear the mating calls from the woods!) If that doesn’t work I’ll Separate the 2 culprits. (I’m gonna inspect the feathers first thing tomorrow) if that doesn’t work, I’ll use the spray as well as everything else I’m doing haha! And if that doesn’t work then... I’ll google some nice recipes, maybe some of grammas country fried chicken say, you mentioned oatmeal. Does oatmeal have to be cooked to feed it to chickens? It’s warm outside so I’d probably cook some and either freeze it or stick it in the fridge for a nice refreshing treat.

 

[Ebony Rose]

Oatmeal will reduce their overall protein intake. I use it to knock the protein down on the quail feed that I feed to my hens. Too much protein is a bad thing too, but the better feed (quail feed) is not only cheaper here, but I need to have it on hand for my quail.

 

[Nelson-Collier]

Oatmeal will reduce their overall protein intake. I use it to knock the protein down on the quail feed that I feed to my hens. Too much protein is a bad thing too, but the better feed (quail feed) is not only cheaper here, but I need to have it on hand for my quail.

Oops. Thanks for that! What other high protein foods can I give them? I was thinking well cooked beans (raw beans are toxic which I’m sure you knew), scrambled eggs (I gave them some A couple weeks ago with powdered egg shell. They loved it.) and worms and bugs. I let them out the run and watch them when they forage, and I also lay sod around and dig it up when it gets full of worms and maggots and throw it in. They go nuts! What else could I give them high in protein?

 

[Ebony Rose]

Well cooked beans should be fed as a treat, and I'd couple that with rice as the combination provides a 'complete' protein (contains all the amino-acids). Eggs scrambled, hard boiled. My girls would give their wisdom teeth (if they had teeth) for a bit of raw hamburger, I give them the cheap stuff (which is lean) (the butcher charges more for anything that has fat, and that includes hamburger), I make it palatable for human consumption by adding bacon drippings. You can sprinkle dry milk on/in their regular grain to put weight onto your girls (if they're on the skinny side), don't give them this if they're already plump as a fat hen has more difficulty laying eggs. Chickens are omnivorous, they'll eat just about anything. I taught my girls to catch mice, which they did until the mice became extinct (in my yard). They also hunt, kill and eat scorpions. I feed steamed quail eggs to my chickens, I don't bother to remove the shell, I simply cut it in half and let them enjoy whatever parts they want. If they need extra calcium, they'll eat the shell... if not, they won't. I prefer to feed them the quail eggs because they do not resemble chicken eggs, so I don't have to 'disguise' it.

 

[Nelson-Collier]

Well cooked beans should be fed as a treat, and I'd couple that with rice as the combination provides a 'complete' protein (contains all the amino-acids). Eggs scrambled, hard boiled. My girls would give their wisdom teeth (if they had teeth) for a bit of raw hamburger, I give them the cheap stuff (which is lean) (the butcher charges more for anything that has fat, and that includes hamburger), I make it palatable for human consumption by adding bacon drippings. You can sprinkle dry milk on/in their regular grain to put weight onto your girls (if they're on the skinny side), don't give them this if they're already plump as a fat hen has more difficulty laying eggs. Chickens are omnivorous, they'll eat just about anything. I taught my girls to catch mice, which they did until the mice became extinct (in my yard). They also hunt, kill and eat scorpions. I feed steamed quail eggs to my chickens, I don't bother to remove the shell, I simply cut it in half and let them enjoy whatever parts they want. If they need extra calcium, they'll eat the shell... if not, they won't. I prefer to feed them the quail eggs because they do not resemble chicken eggs, so I don't have to 'disguise' it.

Wow and I thought I knew a lot about chickens. I learn so much everyday!! What is the ratio of rice to beans I should give?