Feather picking strategy anyone ?

[bevis]

I just treated 5 days with corid for cocsi in my entire flock and just yesterday cut down to the mainteance dose of corid for another 7 days just to make sure.
At the same time, i have an ongoing feather picking problem and its not just one flock member as everyone is effected.
I have already went through 3 cans of blukote for my 46 hens.

I decided to cut off the scratch i have been giving them everyday as i read that it could cause feather picking.
I have them currently on klomblock 16% layer crumble and i have to go to the feed store today as im getting really low.

Heres the question
Should i just buy medicated 20% chick starter and consider it the maintenance dose of corid
or should i continue with the maintenance dose of liquid corid in their water for another 6 days ?
Will going to 20% for a few weeks have an impact on the feather picking issue ?
Does feather picking always have a tie to protein levels in your flock ?

Help if you can and thanks in advance.
When the feather picking began, i caught 1 speckled sussix in particular going around whacking EVERYONE EVERY day. I found her a new home and thought the issue was resolved. Clearly NOT.

I will attach pics to show you what i have done to try and keep the boredom down.
The original run is 9' wide by 19' long and the run add on with the boards and tire is 12' wide by 20' long.
This may not be enough sq feet, im not sure.
I have 5 acres they could roam on and im sure that would end the feather picking problem BUT i also have a ton of predators and id loose 1/2 my flock in short order i fear.

 

[DobieLover]

You have A LOT of birds in there. I think it's still too small. I would consider rehoming several of them and get the numbers down to maybe 30.

It's also pretty boring in the run. I would add wood chips, leaves, pine straw or whatever dry organic material to the run for them to scratch through, lean some pallets up against the walls, add stumps, old wood chairs/stools or whatever to the area for perching on. Really clutter it up so they have more things to do in there.

I would switch them over to a 20% all flock feed (you can feed them non-medicated chick starter permanently) with a few containers of oyster shell for free choice feeding. They are protein deprived because they've been getting the bare minimum of protein and you only recently stopped diluting it with scratch.

I would also supplement them with tins of sardines or cans of tuna several times a week for a meat-based protein boost.

 

[bevis]

You have A LOT of birds in there. I think it's still too small. I would consider rehoming several of them and get the numbers down to maybe 30.

It's also pretty boring in the run. I would add wood chips, leaves, pine straw or whatever dry organic material to the run for them to scratch through, lean some pallets up against the walls, add stumps, old wood chairs/stools or whatever to the area for perching on. Really clutter it up so they have more things to do in there.

I would switch them over to a 20% all flock feed (you can feed them non-medicated chick starter permanently) with a few containers of oyster shell for free choice feeding. They are protein deprived because they've been getting the bare minimum of protein and you only recently stopped diluting it with scratch.

I would also supplement them with tins of sardines or cans of tuna several times a week for a meat-based protein boost.

ok thank you. that would be a lot of cans of sardines / tuna though.
Im going to the feed store today to get a 250lbs of food.
Can i buy medicated and use that for a couple of weeks instead of the liquid corid maintenance dose ? Or just unmedicated ?

 

[bockerchickens]

Not an expert here but I think you can just buy the medicated variety, but beware that it can cause some vitamin deficiencies.

Honestly, I don't think that the space is too small for the number of birds you have.

 

[DobieLover]

ok thank you. that would be a lot of cans of sardines / tuna though.
Im going to the feed store today to get a 250lbs of food.
Can i buy medicated and use that for a couple of weeks instead of the liquid corid maintenance dose ? Or just unmedicated ?

I would just finish up with the liquid Corid in the water and purchase non-medicated feed.
You don't feed a tin of sardines to each chicken. I have a flock of 24 and they all share a single tin or a can of tuna three times a week. That's 3 cans or tins total for the entire flock. You'd feed about twice that. No scratch.

 

[bevis]

ok yesterday i went to the feed store and bought 250lbs of 20% flock raiser and switched them to that. I am continuing the maintenance dose of liquid corid for 7 days.
I also went to a local farm and bought 26 bales of hay and will be stacking it in the outside run in a configuration still undefined. I also put 3 bales inside the chicken house for them to tear into. I will keep them on 20% and no scratch from now on.

 

[dawg53]

If they still continue to pick feathers, you can put Pinless Peepers on them, they work. Make sure you buy the pliers as well. Also get the correct size: Here's a link:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p4432023.m570.l1313&_nkw=pinless+peepers&_sacat=0

 

[bevis]

If they still continue to pick feathers, you can put Pinless Peepers on them, they work. Make sure you buy the pliers as well. Also get the correct size: Here's a link:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p4432023.m570.l1313&_nkw=pinless+peepers&_sacat=0

Thanks