Feather eating behaviors

[Hapitide]

Hello! Recent joiner to BYC...thanks! I have been raising chickens since 2018. Only have 3 right now-two Buff Orpingtons and a Speckled Sussex. I have experienced aggressive feather picking from a high ranking hen in the past and that problem was solved beautifully with chicken peepers. My new problem is a different pattern of feather destruction-I will attach two photos. The place that the feathers are being broken and I assume eaten are on their backs. Have any of you seen this pattern?? Do you think it's self eating or high ranking hen misbehaving again? I see from other posts that increasing protein and enriching environment is the most important way to help solve this. The have a lovely enclosed coop that is about 4 feet by 7 feet. I/2 side is sand and mulch on the other side. They have an enclosed heated roosting area about half that big that is elevated above the sand half. They often enjoy a short bit of time ranging in the woods but due to predation, I have needed to discontinue long times out. Since seeing the feather destruction I have increased protein snacks such as mealworms. They eat regular layer feed and I regularly give them veggies such as cabbage, carrots, broccoli and such. Thanks in advance for your help!
Heidi

 

[azygous]

That kind of feather damage is not noticed by many people. It's caused by compulsive behavior where the perpetrator rakes their beak over and over the back of a lower ranking chicken. It is even harder to resolve than picking behavior.

Two ways you can fight it. One is by removing the raking victim to another section of your run or coop. Another way is to be present and alert to when it is happening and take disciplinary action. This happens when the chickens are loafing, usually later in the day. When you see this happening, poke the evil doer on the back several times until she stops. Wait and watch. If it happens again, do the same pecking with your finger or remove the perpetrator to another area.

This is a brain and behavior issue, not a dietary deficiency. Extra protein isn't going to help. Only mitigation of the behavior will have a chance of making a difference.

 

[Hapitide]

That kind of feather damage is not noticed by many people. It's caused by compulsive behavior where the perpetrator rakes their beak over and over the back of a lower ranking chicken. It is even harder to resolve than picking behavior.

Two ways you can fight it. One is by removing the raking victim to another section of your run or coop. Another way is to be present and alert to when it is happening and take disciplinary action. This happens when the chickens are loafing, usually later in the day. When you see this happening, poke the evil doer on the back several times until she stops. Wait and watch. If it happens again, do the same pecking with your finger or remove the perpetrator to another area.

This is a brain and behavior issue, not a dietary deficiency. Extra protein isn't going to help. Only mitigation of the behavior will have a chance of making a difference.

Hi Azygous.....thanks for getting back to me so quickly. Lucky me that I have an unusual behavior!! I know who the troublemaker is because I only have 3 chickens and Ida is the only one that hasn't been bothered. Last year I put peepers on Ida to make her stop pulling feathers from the rumps of the other two....do you think peepers would stop this behavior? Thanks!

 

[azygous]

No, peepers probably won't stop the raking. You need a hands on approach as I described in #2.

 

[Hapitide]

Thanks much! I will try to catch her in the act and discipline her. Otherwise I will try a separation for a bit and see if this interrupts the behavior.

 

[MadelineT]

That kind of feather damage is not noticed by many people. It's caused by compulsive behavior where the perpetrator rakes their beak over and over the back of a lower ranking chicken. It is even harder to resolve than picking behavior.

Two ways you can fight it. One is by removing the raking victim to another section of your run or coop. Another way is to be present and alert to when it is happening and take disciplinary action. This happens when the chickens are loafing, usually later in the day. When you see this happening, poke the evil doer on the back several times until she stops. Wait and watch. If it happens again, do the same pecking with your finger or remove the perpetrator to another area.

This is a brain and behavior issue, not a dietary deficiency. Extra protein isn't going to help. Only mitigation of the behavior will have a chance of making a difference.

I’m also struggling with this except ALL of my hens have it and it’s 10x worse than her photos. It feels like excessive preening or irritation but I haven’t found any trace of lice or mites. Some of the birds even look like their have pecked the fluff off their tail and wing feathers and just left sticks behind. I’m at a loss! I feed high protein feed + black oil sunflower seeds and mealworms daily.. any idea what could be going on? I have a flock of 8 and they all look horrible. They are 10 months old.

 

[06492Chicks]

I’m also struggling with this except ALL of my hens have it and it’s 10x worse than her photos. It feels like excessive preening or irritation but I haven’t found any trace of lice or mites. Some of the birds even look like their have pecked the fluff off their tail and wing feathers and just left sticks behind. I’m at a loss! I feed high protein feed + black oil sunflower seeds and mealworms daily.. any idea what could be going on? I have a flock of 8 and they all look horrible. They are 10 months old.

I'm in the same boat with the same age chickens. I'm so frustrated. Have you found any solutions?

 

[MadelineT]

I'm in the same boat with the same age chickens. I'm so frustrated. Have you found any solutions?

NOTHING! I'm sooo frustrated. I am still feeding high protein everyday and nothing has changed, if anything it's getting worse. Still no lice or mite sightings.. I've searched the internet relentlessly and haven't found anyone with the same issue that has good insight.

 

[Danyelf]

I have the same issue, broken off feathers, fluffy underneath. All birds except for 2 or 3 are like this. I don’t think it has anything to do with pecking order as the two that look normal are definitely on the bottom. It happened last summer. I searched for mites/lice and never found any. They molted and looked great until about a month ago when it started warming up it started happening again. The only thing I can think of is boredom or mites that are getting at them that I can’t see. But why are a couple of my birds okay? If it is mites. I’m at a loss

 

[kwashinger]

I’m also struggling with this except ALL of my hens have it and it’s 10x worse than her photos. It feels like excessive preening or irritation but I haven’t found any trace of lice or mites. Some of the birds even look like their have pecked the fluff off their tail and wing feathers and just left sticks behind. I’m at a loss! I feed high protein feed + black oil sunflower seeds and mealworms daily.. any idea what could be going on? I have a flock of 8 and they all look horrible. They are 10 months old.

did you ever find a resolution for this? im currently experiencing this with one of my buff orphingtons