Feather Picking

[vantain]

I’ve been dealing with a sick chicken for a few days...crop issue..on another thread.

The hen in question is apparently a bit of a bully. One thing I discovered today about her...she is the cause of the missing neck feathers on the neck on one of my other hens. I was monitoring her outside time on my run cam, and saw her picking the feathers out of the other subordinate bird. Ugh...so she’s also a feather picker.

What’s the best way to deal with this?

Also, what can I do for the hen with the missing neck feathers? It’s getting down into the single digits here, with temps dipping well below 0 very soon. I am afraid of her getting frostbite on the exposed skin there.

And how can I prevent this? Will she grow these feathers back anytime soon. This is such bad timing, weather wise.

Ugh..if it isn’t one thing, it’s another.

 

[DobieLover]

I’ve been dealing with a sick chicken for a few days...crop issue..on another thread.

The hen in question is apparently a bit of a bully. One thing I discovered today about her...she is the cause of the missing neck feathers on the neck on one of my other hens. I was monitoring her outside time on my run cam, and saw her picking the feathers out of the other subordinate bird. Ugh...so she’s also a feather picker.

What’s the best way to deal with this?

Also, what can I do for the hen with the missing neck feathers? It’s getting down into the single digits here, with temps dipping well below 0 very soon. I am afraid of her getting frostbite on the exposed skin there.

And how can I prevent this? Will she grow these feathers back anytime soon. This is such bad timing, weather wise.

Ugh..if it isn’t one thing, it’s another.

What are you feeding your flock, including any treats? In general, you want to keep your protein at 18-20% after any treats are factored in.
How much space do they have in their run and what is in it? Can you post pictures of the run please?
How much of a bald spot are we talking about? A bit of exposed skin isn't too much of an issue as she can tuck her head down to cover the area in question if she feels cold.

 

[azygous]

Yes, it's a rule of the universe. When your plate is so full you can barely think straight, the universe finds it amusing for some reason to pile even more on.

Your bare neck hen won't get frost bite on her bare neck. There's adequate body heat emerging to keep that from happening. But be sure she has eaten plenty before roosting to create the body heat.

Your feather picking victim needs to be kept safe from the feather picker. It's moot while she's confined during her recovery, but when she goes back to the flock, the picking victim needs to be kept in a separate place in order to break the cycle of victimhood. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-bully-chicken-victim-a-two-sided-issue.73923/

As for the picker, that could be why she's got crop issues. Feather eating can be a pica issue. That means the hen may have a compulsion to eat feathers, a lot of feathers. Some people think feather picking is from lack of protein in the diet. Maybe sometimes, but it can also be a very stubborn behavioral issue with no easy answers.

Sometimes pinless peepers helps. I've tried that with mixed success. The problem is that some pickers learn to see well enough wearing peepers that their feather picking is barely slowed down. I had two such hens last year. Both wore peepers and then I took them off after a couple months. Feather picking hasn't resumed so far, but spring is the worst time for picking to occur and that's still ahead of me.

Keeping your chickens from getting bored is one of the best ways to discourage feather picking. Flock blocks, hanging carrots, juice bottle with holes drilled into them and filled with scratch grain to roll around and peck at are all great entertainment. Free ranging in decent weather is even better.

 

[vantain]

What are you feeding your flock, including any treats? In general, you want to keep your protein at 18-20% after any treats are factored in.
How much space do they have in their run and what is in it? Can you post pictures of the run please?
How much of a bald spot are we talking about? A bit of exposed skin isn't too much of an issue as she can tuck her head down to cover the area in question if she feels cold.

I feed them Purina Flock Raiser. It’s 20% protein. They have oyster shell available as free choice.

I occasionally feed them (4 hens) 1/4 cup of some mixed scratch grains and some black soldier fly larvae. That happens maybe once or twice a week.

Their coop is 6x8, and their run is 8x8.

Here is their coop and run.

 

[vantain]

Yes, it's a rule of the universe. When your plate is so full you can barely think straight, the universe finds it amusing for some reason to pile even more on.
Your bare neck hen won't get frost bite on her bare neck. There's adequate body heat emerging to keep that from happening. But be sure she has eaten plenty before roosting to create the body heat.

Your feather picking victim needs to be kept safe from the feather picker. It's moot while she's confined during her recovery, but when she goes back to the flock, the picking victim needs to be kept in a separate place in order to break the cycle of victimhood. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-bully-chicken-victim-a-two-sided-issue.73923/

As for the picker, that could be why she's got crop issues. Feather eating can be a pica issue. That means the hen may have a compulsion to eat feathers, a lot of feathers. Some people think feather picking is from lack of protein in the diet. Maybe sometimes, but it can also be a very stubborn behavioral issue with no easy answers.

Sometimes pinless peepers helps. I've tried that with mixed success. The problem is that some pickers learn to see well enough wearing peepers that their feather picking is barely slowed down. I had two such hens last year. Both wore peepers and then I took them off after a couple months. Feather picking hasn't resumed so far, but spring is the worst time for picking to occur and that's still ahead of me.

Keeping your chickens from getting bored is one of the best ways to discourage feather picking. Flock blocks, hanging carrots, juice bottle with holes drilled into them and filled with scratch grain to roll around and peck at are all great entertainment. Free ranging in decent weather is even better.

Great article you wrote. I don’t have the space yet for a jail in my current run. I am planning on adding another 12x8 section to the existing run in the spring. I do want to add another 4-5 birds as well.

I don’t free range. I can’t. Too many hawks here, and a pair of bald eagles that sit in my nearby trees looking for an easy snack.

I have tried using that pick no more lotion on the poor girl. It does keep the other one from pecking, but I think the odor so close to her nostrils drives her crazy.

 

[azygous]

I was referring to pinless peepers not pick no more lotion, which has never worked for me. https://www.banggood.com/20PCS-Pinl...MI4ajBnsr65gIViddkCh3hzwuLEAAYAyAAEgKqz_D_BwE

 

[aart]

Has she always done this?
She may just be reestablishing her 'authority' after being gone from the flock.

 

[DobieLover]

I feed them Purina Flock Raiser. It’s 20% protein. They have oyster shell available as free choice.

I occasionally feed them (4 hens) 1/4 cup of some mixed scratch grains and some black soldier fly larvae. That happens maybe once or twice a week.

Their coop is 6x8, and their run is 8x8.

Here is their coop and run.

View attachment 1999319

You've got a nice setup but based on the history, my bets are on boredom in their confinement. The run is too small to really have a lot going on in it and give the picker something else to do.
If you are going to expand the run to add 4-5 more chickens, I'd make sure to incorporate more things in it and try make it even bigger than the additional 12x8. Just like with people, some chickens require more personal space and more activities.

 

[vantain]

You've got a nice setup but based on the history, my bets are on boredom in their confinement. The run is too small to really have a lot going on in it and give the picker something else to do.
If you are going to expand the run to add 4-5 more chickens, I'd make sure to incorporate more things in it and try make it even bigger than the additional 12x8. Just like with people, some chickens require more personal space and more activities.

Yeah..I know it probably should be bigger. I just did not place the coop in the best place to allow for that. I have a buried electrical line on the one side that I don’t want the run to be on top of. So that limits me on one side.

I can’t do anything now anyway, so it’s a spring project to figure out.

 

[vantain]

Has she always done this?
She may just be reestablishing her 'authority' after being gone from the flock.

I’m thinking this started when the other bird was actually molting. She lost her neck feathers a month or so ago, and I thought it odd that they weren’t growing back. So I think the issue has been the other hen picking them out as they were growing in. They seem to have a thing for bare skin, making that chicken a target.

I am betting that if she grew in those feathers, the picking would stop.