Hi, I have a flock of five chickens- one Roo and 4 hens. My Roo is an Orpington, as is one of my hens, and the others are welsummers. Over the last 2 months or so I've been tackling feather pecking and nothing seems to be working! It started with one of the welsummers, she would peck and pull at the neck feathers of the other two welsummers when they were sitting down and they made no attempt to stop her. It's now spread through the flock and all but the Orpington Roo have been affected. My Orpington hen has bald patches on either side of her neck (no broken skin as yet) and the feathers all over her body have been pecked short, particularly on her back. the welsummers have all lost their beautiful golden neck feathers and now have grey downy necks instead. They also have had their back feathers pecked short. All but one of the Roos feathers are intact, just a little pack mark on one of his tail feathers. They have more than enough space in their coop and run- the coop is about 5x4 ft and the run is about 12x 7 ft, although I'm planning to extend this anyway. They have 2 best boxes, wood shavings litter in the coop and bare earth in their run which is good for dust bathing in, they're all otherwise in good health and are fed good quality layers pellets. I've tried feather pecking spray which isn't seeming to make a difference and I often give them a head of broccoli or cabbage or some meal worms for them to play with.
What am I doing wrong?! And how can I stop it?
Thanks,
Charlotte
