Feather Eating

[jen7]

Hi there,
I have a hen eating the tips of another hens tail feathers. Is she deficient in something, is it a pecking order thing or is she bored? The other hen doesn't seem to mind. I give them a 17% protein chook feed. Does any one know of a spray solution I can put on the tail feathers to deter this? Thanks

 

[DobieLover]

How much space does your flock have?
Can you post pictures of your setup?

 

[rosemarythyme]

x2 DobieLover's questions. It could be boredom or stress related. More protein could help minimize it (wouldn't hurt to try) but it's probably not the only issue.

You can use a something like Pick-no-more lotion to make the feathers taste bad, however it needs to be reapplied regularly (like, daily) as it wears off. It also tints things purple if I recall correctly...

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hi, welcome to the forum from Louisiana, glad you joined.

How much space does your flock have?
Can you post pictures of your setup?

Good questions. I'd also ask how old they are and how long has this been going on? Have you checked for mites or lice, especially in the vent area? There is no telling what could be causing this behavior, sometimes it's really hard to figure out.

A somewhat different situation from yours but it may have a bearing. One time I had a mature hen perched next to the dominant rooster. She was picking his neck feathers out, starting to create a bald spot. Like she was grooming him. Like yours, he just sat there and took it. I locked the rooster in isolation for about 24 hours. When I let him out that behavior did not reoccur.

I don't know what caused that behavior to start and I don't know if isolating him is what caused it to stop. I'm not surprised to hear that you are seeing something like that.

Another product we have in the US that is supposed to stop pecking is Blu-Kote. Not sure where you are located or what is available to you.

 

[FunClucks]

jen7 did you ever get this stopped? What worked for you? One of my hens has just started doing this to another of my hens, eating the tips of her saddle feathers. I have plenty of space in the covered run (15 hens, one rooster in 10'x20' run), feed 20% protein all-flock, and lots of run clutter. I was going to put some pinless peepers on the possible aggressor hen, but it gets below freezing at night, and I'm worried about freezing her nose.