feather loss on roo

[4Him]

I've noticed feathers missing on the back of my 7 month old Americana rooster. The feathers at the bottom of his back, right where the long tail feathers start. Today the whole area was swollen and bleeding. He is in a large coop with 26 hens and another rooster (Rhode Island Red). I was assuming it was the other rooster pecking at him to get off 'his' girls. When I took the RIR out of the coop, the hens started pecking at his back. Now I'm not sure how the problem started or how to take care of it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[CMV]

You are dealing with feather picking which can be caused by a variety of factors. It usually starts as a nutritional deficiency (lack of protein), but rapidly turns into a behavioral problem. Several other factors such as boredom and crowded conditions can also add to the problem.

Start by increasing your birds' protein intake by adding BOSS to their diets and/or changing their feed over to a grower formula. This should address any deficiencies. If the problem persists then you may need to take more drastic action, but at the moment I would just bring on the dietary changes.

Oh, and start monitoring the flock to see if you can figure out who is doing the majority of the picking. You may need to separate the worst culprits if the diet changes don't work, so you may as well be ready by knowing who is doing the damage.

Good luck.

 

[4Him]

Thank you so much for the advice...I'll start today.