Eating Feathers

[Jspartans26]

Tonight when I was watching my chickens on the roost, one of them was picking and eating feathers off of the smallest bird in my flock next to her. What is the best way for me to discourage this behavior so my small bird doesn’t get henpecked?

 

[CluckerFamily]

Welcome to BYC!
How bad is the pecking? Is there blood?
Chickens will eat feathers and they will pluck feathers also. Is there only 1 chicken doing the pecking?

 

[Jspartans26]

Welcome to BYC!
How bad is the pecking? Is there blood?
Chickens will eat feathers and they will pluck feathers also. Is there only 1 chicken doing the pecking?

Thank you! All of my chickens will eat feathers if they find them on the ground. I haven’t noticed any of them eating feathers off of each other before tonight. It’s just the one that was eating feathers, around the back then neck and head area. There wasn’t any blood.

 

[Aapomp831]

Feathers are high in protein. I’ve read that chickens do that when it’s molt season bc they crave the extra protein.

 

[CluckerFamily]

I would keep an eye on them. If she is the only one pecking and it leads to blood, I would put the pecker in a crate with her own food and water for some time. Then the pecking order will have to be adjusted.
Have you also noticed or checked for lice or mites? Sometimes they will peck to get these pests.

 

[rosemarythyme]

What's the protein level in your feed and do you dilute it down with any treats? Possibly increasing protein intake could help, if she's picking for that reason.