Do you cull a feather plucker?

[sophiehatter1057]

I agree that this bird is really not behaving well and needs to go, either as dinner, or maybe to another flock, outside, with many adult birds who can make him eat humble pie. With full disclosure!
Don't feel guilty about this, you can't fix his little brain, it's just who he is, and his hatchmates deserve better. Remove him today so they don't have to deal with this bad actor any longer.
Is he going after everyone, or just one victim? Either way, it's not good.
Mary

Thank you so much for this. This chick is indiscriminate about whose feathers it'll eat, though it really got nuts with another confirmed cockerel we had. And thank you for highlighting the importance of protected his hatchmates.

 

[holly1225s]

I thought about saddles. Where did you find yours?

Amazon. Down under outdoors 4 medium-large saddles

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[Tookie]

That was my gut feeling but I don't know why. What gives it away?

Comb development, and the splotchy uneven coloring.

 

[McChooky]

My Dominique's started pulling each others feathers out until I finished their run.They've never pulled feathers out since and they're going on 6 yrs old.I would give these young chicks more room even if it meant getting rid of some.

 

[CalgaryFarmer]

I had a feather picking problem for quite a while, probably a year or so. They were on layer feed which might have been 16% or 17% protein. It stopped when I switched to turkey grower (22%). I would never go back. 20% is probably sufficient but you should up the protein to see if that helps. If you are feeding them kitchen scraps and other treats it will likely be lowering their overall protein.