Cull or not?

[michickenwrangler]

Problem is, I don't really have any place to put her that will keep her warm enough. DH won't let me put her in the garage or on the porch.

 

[phantomthebantom]

 

[Davaroo]

I think you've answered your own question

"I don't really want to kill her and don't want to foist her onto someone else. She's just relentless. My hens have been getting meat scraps and it takes them awhile to eat the meat and I thought they could use a protein boost. Getting 16% layer feed....
I'll cull if I have to, but I don't want her to peck someone to death first while I hem and haw."

You know what you have to do.

As for the 16% layer feed, this time of year they need carboniferous feed for energy.
If they are laying and you feed them layer ration, I'd offer them something green and "protein-carby," liked cracked oats.

Also consider Calf Manna as a supplement.

 

[nifftiness]

I had a rooster like that once, i was so frusterated at how mean he was that I put him in a box till my husband got home and asked him to wack him. Two days later i went outside and went to put the box away only to find my husband never wacked the rooster it was still in the box. I felt terrible he was in their for so long and let him out so he could eat and run around, thinking i would have a chat with my husband when he got home and have the deed done. Well the time out in the box must have got the rooster thinking because he was better after that and wasnt half as aggresive since then!

 

[magicpigeon]

Don't cull her; she deserves a second chance. I recommend the pinless peepers idea. Maybe just keep her in a cardboard box for a day or so. That works for most of my misbehaving birds. Maybe your hen is just bored. Can she free-range? My picking stopped completely after I let mine free range

 

[Judy]

She really needs, maybe deserves, a week or so in isolation. Seems a bit much to cull a bird because you won't put a box or crate in a garage for a week. Besides, after you cull her you may just find the next dominant one doing the same thing. As another poster indicated, free ranging usually stops this. Exposes them to predators, yes, but it's hard for me to see that as being worse than cannibalism.

 

[Denninmi]

I've had good luck getting picking to stop by using Kwell anti-picking spray sold at pet stores in the caged bird aisle. It is truly vile tasting stuff, and does seem to make them stop, at least, it has for me.

 

[Jesseschickens]

The anti- pick spray does work well I have a hen that is terrible but one day she spent the day in a dog crate and she dosent pick nearly as much now I wouldnt feed them meat of any kind this encourages the pecking problem

 

[michickenwrangler]

Now I thought feeding them meat = increasing their protein was supposed to DECREASE feather picking.

Money is tight right now, but I get a tax return next weekend so I will order some pinless peepers then.

This hen has always done some minor toe and feather picking and rooster harrassing even when they free range in the summer.

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
Chickens don't know if they are protein deficient. They don't stand around the hen yard saying,
"Man, we gotta get some more protein. Hold still - Im gonna pick your feathers!..."

One of the problems I see is that people expect that chickens adhere to our way of thinking. We go so far as to imbue them with human attributes in our zeal to have them be "more like us." So we observe and dissect what WE do and see, without genuine scientific analysis, and come up with the conclusion that our chickens are protein deficient. Since that is the case in our minds, we look for ways to tie their behavior in with that.

But they don't know anything about nutrition... I've never seen a chicken studying any of my poultry books.

They just do stuff according to their nature.



It is accepted among poultry experts that feather picking is due to two factors:

1. The feathers are there -
2. The birds are close to one another.

It is typically considered a problem found in crowded conditions. It isn't exclusive to that, however. It can become habit during the winter when they cannot get out, or as a result of pecking order squabbling, for example. Then later, as when you are "free ranging" them, it is imbedded and continues.

But it is generally thought to be a symptom of overcrowding on some level and can be a precursor to other problems.