⠀ Feather picking and possible eating

[SinkulaFarm]

I have a feather eater or more possibly multiple feather eaters... I haven't really caught any of the girls in the act but I'm sure it's happening. My hens look awful, their feathers aren't being completely pulled out they just look like they have been bit off right in the middle. Around their bottoms do look bare on some of them though. I have 7 girls who are all a year old and only 3 of them look untouched.
I've tried a few things such as giving them more protein like cooked ground hamburger, scrambled eggs, fruits and veggies etc. They are currently eating a chick starter grower feed because I just integrated 5 two month old chicks but before that it was a layer feed. I even treated them for worms a month ago and I have examined them almost daily to see if they have mites or lice and I've never found anything more then dirt.
I've had a lot of suggestions from other sites, most being that they aren't getting enough protein. It's seems to be hard to find feed that is higher then 18% protein. I just need help trying to figure out what to do, I'm tired of my girls looking like hell! They are spoiled rotten and I want them to look that way!
Oh and their run is adaquit size and they get to free range a few days a week for a few hours each time.

 

[SinkulaFarm]

 

[DrMikelleRoeder]

I have a feather eater or more possibly multiple feather eaters... I haven't really caught any of the girls in the act but I'm sure it's happening. My hens look awful, their feathers aren't being completely pulled out they just look like they have been bit off right in the middle. Around their bottoms do look bare on some of them though. I have 7 girls who are all a year old and only 3 of them look untouched.
I've tried a few things such as giving them more protein like cooked ground hamburger, scrambled eggs, fruits and veggies etc. They are currently eating a chick starter grower feed because I just integrated 5 two month old chicks but before that it was a layer feed. I even treated them for worms a month ago and I have examined them almost daily to see if they have mites or lice and I've never found anything more then dirt.
I've had a lot of suggestions from other sites, most being that they aren't getting enough protein. It's seems to be hard to find feed that is higher then 18% protein. I just need help trying to figure out what to do, I'm tired of my girls looking like hell! They are spoiled rotten and I want them to look that way!
Oh and their run is adaquit size and they get to free range a few days a week for a few hours each time.

Hmm. This is a tricky one. Nutrition could definitely be a factor, but it sounds like you have a pecking situation in your flock. Pecking can be the one-size-fits-all response to a number of stressors, and stress comes in many shapes and forms.

Pecking can be caused by:
1. Space -- not just physical square footage (we recommend at least 10 square feet per adult bird) but also adequate feeder and waterer space -- is very important. You may need more than one feeder and waterer so that all birds are comfortably able to eat or drink at the same time without any squabbling.
2. There may be an unknown predator lurking around at night, keeping the birds awake (and anyone who has had small children knows no good ever comes of sleep deprivation).
3. Dominance -- as in pecking order -- is always a factor, and it may be that the really beat-up hen simply doesn't have enough places to hide from the other hens (which can get back to issues of space).
4. External parasites that irritate the hens and internal parasites that rob them of nutrients can be stressors.
5. Lighting that is too bight or on 24/7 is a stressor.

You may want to sit back and thoroughly assess your situation and see if there are any equipment or management changes you can make that might result in less stress for the birds. Some external parasites come out only at night, then disappear back into cracks and crevices with the morning light, leaving you to wonder why your birds seem so disheveled and distressed. An 18%-protein feed is more than enough protein under normal circumstances. Pecking is the symptom that something is amiss; the challenge is to figure out what.