I've been raising chickens for nearly 8 years now and for the first time have a feather picker.
This past weekend I picked up 4 POL pullets to add to my flock (currently in quarantine) and noticed one is a definite feather picker. I know they'd outgrown the space they had available at their previous home (one reason they were in need of a new one) and thus the habit began. They were able to free-range for at least part of every day but I'm not sure they had a sufficient diet otherwise so I'm increasing their protein levels to start with and will try everything I can to break her of this behavior before any final decisions are made on what to do with her.
I intend on raising this breed; I have a cockerel already but if this feather picking is not just habitual from what began as either nutritional deficiency or a lack of adequate space (or a combination of the two) and is actually hereditary, I do not want to have her passing this behavior on to her offspring (aside from my established flock suffering through her habit).
I'm interested to hear from those who have experience with feather pickers who have had offspring and whether the behavior was inherent in the chicks or isolated to a parent.
This past weekend I picked up 4 POL pullets to add to my flock (currently in quarantine) and noticed one is a definite feather picker. I know they'd outgrown the space they had available at their previous home (one reason they were in need of a new one) and thus the habit began. They were able to free-range for at least part of every day but I'm not sure they had a sufficient diet otherwise so I'm increasing their protein levels to start with and will try everything I can to break her of this behavior before any final decisions are made on what to do with her.
I intend on raising this breed; I have a cockerel already but if this feather picking is not just habitual from what began as either nutritional deficiency or a lack of adequate space (or a combination of the two) and is actually hereditary, I do not want to have her passing this behavior on to her offspring (aside from my established flock suffering through her habit).
I'm interested to hear from those who have experience with feather pickers who have had offspring and whether the behavior was inherent in the chicks or isolated to a parent.