Feather picking?

[AinaWGSD]

I think I have a feather picker in my flock, and I think I know who, but I never catch them in the act.

Five of my 6 hens have feather damage and/or missing feathers in the saddle and tail region. The sixth hen has no feather damage, so I suspect she's the picker. I have seen 2 other hens grab and pull feathers on lower ranking birds, but the suspect hen never seems to do more than a few steps and a single firm peck towards another hen.

Other than the damaged feathers, there doesn't really seem to be any conflict with my flock. The coop is 8x10 and the covered run is 20x20, so everyone has plenty of room to avoid other chickens if they want. I know the youngest and newest member of the flock is getting picked while on the roost because I've been finding a lot of her feathers when cleaning the poop board. And it's not just the hens at the bottom of the pecking order, the second and third highest hens are just as badly picked as the bottom 3.

The suspect, middle, and one of the low rankin hens (left) and a high ranking hen (right). You can see the higher ranking hen has more feather damage/lost feathers than the lower ranking hen.

I'm not sure what to do. Or if I really even need to do anything. Other than the feather damage, everyone seems to be getting along fine. I don't see any major scuffles and no one is being kept from food or water. They've been on an 18% all flock since they were big enough to eat pellets with oyster shells on the side. Egg production is actually pretty impressive since 5 of them are 1.5 years old and in their second winter of laying. One isn't laying, but she's never been my best layer anyway, and I've been getting 1-3 eggs a day from the rest.

 

[Debbie292d]

The two top reasons for feather picking are overcrowding and lack of protein, neither of which is the case with yours.

Are you sure they aren't molting? You mention some of the feather picking you have seen, but much you don't. That might explain why one isn't losing any feathers but others are. Check a couple of those who are losing feathers in their saddle and tail to see if their necks seem like they're missing a few.

Otherwise, I guess I'd try to reset their pecking order by removing a hen, or two, for a few days, then return them back to the rest and see how they behave then.

 

[AinaWGSD]

Their molt was earlier this fall, the wyandotte at the very least molted all the damaged feathers out and the new feathers have since been damaged. No one had a hard molt, but they all quit laying for a few weeks and there were more feathers on the ground. I suppose some of them might still be in a soft or slow molt but it seems unlikely.

I suppose it could also be damage from mounting? I haven't seen it in a while, but I have seen at least one of the hens mounting other birds in the past. I haven't seen the suspect picker do any mounting, but it would make sense no one else dares to mount her since she's the head hen.