Feather picking..should I cull?

[brandy21410]

I've been dealing with my chickens feathers being broken off for months now. I initially thought it was protein content but I had them on 25% protein feed for a while and it wasn't working so I reduced it back down to 18% because my ducks eat the same feed and I diddnt want the protein to be too high for them. Then I thought it could be mites or lice, even though I haven't seen any, so I treated for 3 weeks with poultry dust and that diddnt work so I tried the seven dust and no luck. The feathers are getting worse and worse, now I am sure it's feather picking because I have seen it. The problem is out of my 8 chickens all but like 3 I have seen doing it. They have enough room and also get to free range. How can I stop them from doing this? Or do I just have to cull and start over? I just finished my first quarter or nursing school and am on a break so I haven't had time to figure this out until now. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[The Angry Hen]

I would not suggest culling her,
it could be just a simple bad molt.

As long as she is not in pain,
she should be fine!

-TAH

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Do you have a rooster?

 

[chickens really]

I'm also thinking Molt or Rooster Damage..The red area on the dark Hen should be sprayed with Blu-kote so they do not start eating her...

 

[brandy21410]

No I don't have rooster and it's been like this since March. It's not just one but most of then that are picking feathers.

 

[adickenscoop]

No you do not need to kill your birds because they are having issues with their feathers. Why not try to correct the problem? PoultryDVM has a symptom checker tool which is pretty useful for helping to figure out whats wrong with your birds. Why don't you try using this tool and try to correct the problem? -- http://www.poultrydvm.com/

 

[The Angry Hen]

I agree with you, @adickenscoop, you are 100% right.
It is not necessary to hurt something that isn't acting sickly.

Is it limping? is it not drinking? Is it not caring for itself? Is it not eating?

Before you consider hurting something, think about how it is acting.
If it is acting like a perfect happy chicken, there is no reason to cull it.

-The Angry Hen