We've dealt with feather picking in the past and have come to the conclusion that it started because the birds didn't have enough space and eventually it became a habit. We removed the peckers and all has been well so far, but now my Silkies (different flock) are throwing me a little bit.
They have a beautiful new coop we just built this summer. There is 1 roo and 3 girlies. The coop is 48 sq feet, and we figured that they had enough room for all of them without giving free-range. I want to avoid it because one of them (the pecker, actually) is white and I'd rather not risk sun-bleaching. Also, we don't want to get in trouble with predators. But I can see how sitting in a coop doing nothing all day can be boring. The pecker is also the only one who can see well enough to pluck a feather.
Also, they're just getting plain layer crumbles. They couldn't catch bugs, honestly, even if they wanted to. (Can't focus on such small things). So could they also need more protein? The pecker hasn't caused any damage yet, but I keep seeing her doing it. I'm afraid she's going to start going for the beards (
)then I'll be in trouble. Ideas?
They have a beautiful new coop we just built this summer. There is 1 roo and 3 girlies. The coop is 48 sq feet, and we figured that they had enough room for all of them without giving free-range. I want to avoid it because one of them (the pecker, actually) is white and I'd rather not risk sun-bleaching. Also, we don't want to get in trouble with predators. But I can see how sitting in a coop doing nothing all day can be boring. The pecker is also the only one who can see well enough to pluck a feather.
Also, they're just getting plain layer crumbles. They couldn't catch bugs, honestly, even if they wanted to. (Can't focus on such small things). So could they also need more protein? The pecker hasn't caused any damage yet, but I keep seeing her doing it. I'm afraid she's going to start going for the beards (

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