Feather picking?

RussianChickens

Songster
10 Years
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I have been noticing my flock is picking each others feathers. :/ Many birds have short spots where the feathers have been pulled off. The muffs on my orloff roos, and the sides and chests of other birds.

I inspected closely for any sign of mites but there were none I could see.


Is this the typical winter blues and boredom in my flock?



What may i do to keep them entertained? I keep getting those seed blocks for them to peck at. Anything else?
 
Plucking out of feathers is either due to 1 - boredom 2 - bullying 3 - the roo is doing the 'do' horribly and scraping the hens with spurs, claws and beak or 4 - a protein defiency, solved with yogurt and more crickets.
 
You can also hang a head of cabbage in their run and they will be busy pecking on that. I would also increase their protein a bit because they might be searching for protien. If it's simply out of boredom the cabbage should keep them entertained for hours on end. Hope this helps. Mine will peck on the feathers of other birds but not actually pull them out. If they are pulling them out you can also try using a product made by rooster booster called Peck no more. I've used this product myself and it Works! It's a lotion type product you place on the area being pecked. It's natural and has tee tree oil in it to promote healing of pecked areas. It has a VERY strong smell and they don't like it and will stay away from the area it's on. I had a older bird that was pecking on my babies so I put it on my babies , she pecked ONCE and that was it! That smell got to her and she stopped pecking on my babies! I kept using it for about a week and she never pecked them again. Even after I stopped using it.it made a impression on her. You might consider trying that. It really works wonderfully ! I now keep a bottle around incase any pecking issues arrive again. It's in a brown bottle and can be found at most feed stores and tractor supply.i believe it's around 7 or 8 dollars. Hope this helps. Best wishes to you!
 
You can also hang a head of cabbage in their run and they will be busy pecking on that. I would also increase their protein a bit because they might be searching for protein. If it's simply out of boredom the cabbage should keep them entertained for hours on end. Hope this helps. Mine will peck on the feathers of other birds but not actually pull them out. If they are pulling them out you can also try using a product made by rooster booster called Peck no more. I've used this product myself and it Works! It's a lotion type product you place on the area being pecked. It's natural and has tee tree oil in it to promote healing of pecked areas. It has a VERY strong smell and they don't like it and will stay away from the area it's on. I had a older bird that was pecking on my babies so I put it on my babies , she pecked ONCE and that was it! That smell got to her and she stopped pecking on my babies! I kept using it for about a week and she never pecked them again. Even after I stopped using it.it made a impression on her. You might consider trying that. It really works wonderfully ! I now keep a bottle around in case any pecking issues arrive again. It's in a brown bottle and can be found at most feed stores and tractor supply.i believe it's around 7 or 8 dollars. Hope this helps. Best wishes to you!
OK I'll get another peck block today and some cabbage and that Peck no more.

I wouldn't think its protein deficient because I have been feeding meet scraps a lot.

They aren't pulling the feathers out just pecking them and making them short. Lol, many of my birds have had patches mowed down to about 1/2 length lol. And they took the muffs off my best Orloff roo!
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