Feather eating - dear God please help

[WesterBee]

Hey Backyardians,

Here I am again with a please help my under experienced brain chicken conundrum. My Blue Andalusian has been plucking feathers from her flock mates for around a month now. It started in the brooder so we moved to the coop/run/full time free range. First I thought “oh it’s a protein thing and she needs more space” but alas, the sweet little shit pecks even when they’ve got full run of the (not small but haven’t measured so don’t have specs yard). She goes through phases of pecking and plucking and being outcast to not plucking and kind of seeming to fit in. It’s two in particular that are her targets - the Dominant Copper and Color Pak Blue. The Brahma and Sapphire Jem have *so far* been spared. I’ve tried adding everything under the sun to boost protein, I’ve tried making a cluttered run, I’ve tried free ranging, I’ve done look don’t touch and I still cannot get her to stop. She is the sweetest most skittish little bird and I want us to figure it out so she can stay but the other girls are soooo much more content when she is in “timeout”. I’m at my wits end dear Lord someone please help

Here is the culprit sleeping on my cousin who *hates birds*. She really is a sweet little gal but right now I’m wondering how much meat a 9 week old Jepta has on her bones

 

[WesterBee]

 

[Lillith37]

Maybe you could try something called "pinless peepers". They prevent the bird from seeing directly in front of them and can help with bullying/pecking issues.

 

[Perris]

This from Nicol 2015 Behavioural biology of chickens:
p.174 “all types of injurious pecking appear to be a form of normal pecking redirected inappropriately to another bird.”

p.175 “SFP (severe feather pecking) is strongly related to feeding and foraging motivation. Dietary deficiencies, especially relating to amino acid and protein levels, are linked with SFP, as is inadequate fibre content… every time a diet is changed there is a risk that birds will find the new formulation relatively unpalatable… feeding pellets rather than mash is a strong and significant risk for SFP and for vent pecking, as birds spend far more time foraging with diets presented in mash form… the most striking finding was that the more management strategies [to reduce the risk of FP] were employed, the lower the rates of GFP (gentle feather pecking) and SFP and the better the birds’ plumage condition. The strategies in question were subsequently made freely available on the Featherwel website (https://www.featherwel.org/featherwel/ )”

 

[aldarita]

I am now wondering if this is a behavior of the breed. I have 3 andalucians that are 10 years old. Two of them live with 7 other hens of different ages. They "free range" in a large yard (1/4 of an acre) everyday from sunrise to sunset, they have a big run and a very large coop. They pluck the feathers of the beard of my EEs to the point of leaving them beardless. They eat 20% grower feed and also fermented feed (which make the nutrients more bioavailable) I give them dried BSL everyday for extra protein since they are molting right now.
They have been doing the feather plucking for years.
The option of using pinless peepers is not for me. I don't like to put anything so obtrusive on them. I have just let them be, my EEs don't look that pretty without their beards but they don't seem to mind and they live their normal lives. I know there are extreme cases where feathers from different areas are plucked badly and I can see that could be a serious problem.

 

[Folly's place]

When diet and boredom issues have been addressed, you just have a feather picking beast out there. Pinless peepers may solve this for this bird, you have to order them online.
Or, move her on elsewhere with full disclosure. She may get 'squelched' in a flock of mature hens, good for her overblown ego.
Mary
Always solve for the good of the flock! @Mrs. K

 

[WesterBee]

Maybe you could try something called "pinless peepers". They prevent the bird from seeing directly in front of them and can help with bullying/pecking issues.

I’ve considered this for sure, this may be the next step.

 

[WesterBee]

This from Nicol 2015 Behavioural biology of chickens:
p.174 “all types of injurious pecking appear to be a form of normal pecking redirected inappropriately to another bird.”

p.175 “SFP (severe feather pecking) is strongly related to feeding and foraging motivation. Dietary deficiencies, especially relating to amino acid and protein levels, are linked with SFP, as is inadequate fibre content… every time a diet is changed there is a risk that birds will find the new formulation relatively unpalatable… feeding pellets rather than mash is a strong and significant risk for SFP and for vent pecking, as birds spend far more time foraging with diets presented in mash form… the most striking finding was that the more management strategies [to reduce the risk of FP] were employed, the lower the rates of GFP (gentle feather pecking) and SFP and the better the birds’ plumage condition. The strategies in question were subsequently made freely available on the Featherwel website (https://www.featherwel.org/featherwel/ )”

This is very helpful and informative, thank you!

 

[WesterBee]

I am now wondering if this is a behavior of the breed. I have 3 andalucians that are 10 years old. Two of them live with 7 other hens of different ages. They "free range" in a large yard (1/4 of an acre) everyday from sunrise to sunset, they have a big run and a very large coop. They pluck the feathers of the beard of my EEs to the point of leaving them beardless. They eat 20% grower feed and also fermented feed (which make the nutrients more bioavailable) I give them dried BSL everyday for extra protein since they are molting right now.
They have been doing the feather plucking for years.
The option of using pinless peepers is not for me. I don't like to put anything so obtrusive on them. I have just let them be, my EEs don't look that pretty without their beards but they don't seem to mind and they live their normal lives. I know there are extreme cases where feathers from different areas are plucked badly and I can see that could be a serious problem.

This makes me feel better as I’ve been curious how much of this can be attributed to breed differences. I too have high protein grower feed, offer BSL and mealworms (some of them are divas and won’t eat the BSL haha!) plus other protein rich treats and still the pecking persists. Fortunately it’s not extreme in the sense of causing balding or bleeding but I really would prefer it didn’t get there. Thanks for weighing in!

 

[WesterBee]

When diet and boredom issues have been addressed, you just have a feather picking beast out there. Pinless peepers may solve this for this bird, you have to order them online.
Or, move her on elsewhere with full disclosure. She may get 'squelched' in a flock of mature hens, good for her overblown ego.
Mary
Always solve for the good of the flock! @Mrs. K

Thank you for your response. I have indeed considered rehoming her as she just doesn’t quite fit in with the others no matter how much I wish she did!