Clair is getting plucked

[SoldierSailor]

Clair our crested white silke has been being plucked for months.

We sold off two who were picking on everyone but it seems like she is still
getting picked on by the remaining chicken.

We have tried to segregate her but all she does is pace back and forth trying to get into the main run again.

Will she eventually settle down if we leave her be????

She has been with this flock for quite a while. Most of the others were younger chicks (8 weeks)
and Claire was full grown when we put her in with them and she did fine.

Now that everyone is grown and laying she gets the brunt of the plucking. She is the only silkie
every other breed is in pairs 2 RIR, 2 leghorns, & 2 light brahmas.

Any suggestions, she looks like a bald old lady without her wig and her chest is almost bare now too.

We have been blue coating her head and chest but as soon as a new feather starts growing someone will pluck it out.

Help

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Unfortunately she since she is the "odd lady out" I think the picking will continue.
They most likely will pluck her completely, attack or possibly even injure/kill her.
IMO separating her will most likely be your best option.
Can you get another Silkie or two to keep her company in a separate pen (after the new one has gone through a quarantine period)?

 

[MMorganE]

She sounds like a real sweet baby that wouldnt hurt others. I suggest getting her a companion but separating her from her current "group." This was happening to mine and sadly, they recently scalped her completely and I had to put her down. I agree, this will worsen not improve. Something about her they are not accepting. She needs a friend though. I suggest separating her and putting her with your next sweetest hen.

 

[SoldierSailor]

So folks now I got a new problem, we let Claire and her new coop mates free range in the yard.

Every time we let Claire out she makes her way over to the old run where her former flock are

(the ones that pulled her feathers) paces up and down outside until I go get her and take her

back down to the new run.

The new silkies are afraid her and keep to themselves for the most part.

on a positive side : Claire's feathers have started to coming back in!!!

 

[MMorganE]

Can you post a few pictures of the silkies? I really want some! I looove silkies!! I think you should just keel doing what you're doing, especially for her safety, and in time everyone and everything will settle down and fall into place.

 

[MMorganE]

Mama hen kicked her two babies out from under her wing recently and doesn't want anything to do witb them. So now I have one lonely mama and two babies that are so scared of her. They wont eat (or even go) near her. But Im patiently waiting, as. I know with time they will become one group.

 

[SoldierSailor]

Dottie and Darla




Claire when she had most of her feathers


Claire, Dottie and Darla's new coop


we tried blue cote but they still picked on her

Claire has had better times

 

[SoldierSailor]

I posted some pictures of the girls

 

[Fancychooklady]

Chickens that are suffering dietary deficiencies are inclined to pluck and eat the feathers of others.
It might worthwhile increasing their protein levels and perhaps adding a poultry vitamin to the water periodically. Methionine is the amino acid that when they are deficient, can cause poor feather growth and a craving for feathers.
Removing her was the correct thing to do and if she has a vaulted skull she is especially vulnerable to cerebral haemorrhage if pecked around the head. Silkies are generally disadvantaged by their limited vision, depending on the crest size and are often best with their own kind or at least other bantam sized birds.

 

[MMorganE]

Omg lmao silkies crack me up. How incredibly cuuuute. They are gorgeous! Oh my...Clair def. is not in a good position getting plucked like that. I learned with my girls that they also segregate by breed. If the barred rock went into the brhamas territory, she would walk away with less feathers. But that hasn't always been the case. Do most places- like Tractor Supply Co. sell Silkies?