Feather Plucking!

4boyz

Chirping
8 Years
Jul 23, 2011
40
6
92
I have chickens that won't leave each other alone and continue to pull out the feathers of each other on their butts. I live in a cold climate and 2 of the 3 have nearly naked rear-ends because of this habit, plus bloody spots where their feathers get pulled out.

I suspect they are bored and free-ranging would probably solve this problem, but my dog would kill them on the spot and I don't have a safe spot for them to do this.

I've been working on this problem for about 2 weeks and this is what I've done/assessed so far.

They have a very large coop and run and are not crowded.
Plenty of high protein food with added oyster shells.
Flock block in the run with additional scratch thrown out for them to look for.
Added heat lamp in the evening because they are naked.
I got rid of the bully of the group, but this habit has transferred down to the others.
I applied "Pick no More" to the bald spots. This didn't seem to have much effect.

I am going out of town in 3 days for Christmas and am at a loss as to what to do. I have a neighbor who is willing to watch them, but I don't want to leave chickens with her in this condition.

Does anyone have any ideas? I'm at a loss.

Has anyone tried to coat the feathers with the stuff used to stop thumb sucking?
 
Stop the heat, that can cause picking as heat can agitate them.

How big is big enough for room?

What breeds? Certain breeds seem more prone to it like sex links.

What percentage of protein is your feed?

I use bluekote, put them down when wet and they will get a mouthful of yuck.

There must be a reason for the behavior. I'm guessing protein deficiency. If it goes on long enough it can become a habit you can't stop.

Do they eat the feathers?
 
20% protein layer feed plus added oyster shells

1 - Australorp, 1-Sussex, 1-Wyandotte (got rid of the Plymouth Rock who was the worse offender)

6'x10' run with multiple levels and places to roost
7'x7' coop

yes, they eat the feathers

i'll have to look for bluekote. The 2 feed stores in town did not carry it.
 
I called around and found some bluekote. I will put it on them ASAP
Mill date 10/23/17
Northern Utah
Birds are about 10 months old. Started laying about 2 months ago.

Questions about their food. I switched from crumbles to pellets several months ago. During the transition I noticed they were picking through the pellets to get to the crumble and wasting a ton! I also switched up how I was feeding them so they couldn't waste so much of the feed. Could it be that they aren't eating as much as they should because they don't like the pellets?

I'm grasping at straws here.
 
20% protein layer feed plus added oyster shells

1 - Australorp, 1-Sussex, 1-Wyandotte (got rid of the Plymouth Rock who was the worse offender)

6'x10' run with multiple levels and places to roost
7'x7' coop

yes, they eat the feathers

i'll have to look for bluekote. The 2 feed stores in town did not carry it.
I have read Wyandotte are not nice in confinement. I might try a different feed before scraping the whole flock and trying again. Sounds like everything is okay, but yet something is wrong. Could just be a habit now. I have seen them cannibalize each other, so it's definitely a serious situation.
 
I called around and found some bluekote. I will put it on them ASAP
Mill date 10/23/17
Northern Utah
Birds are about 10 months old. Started laying about 2 months ago.

Questions about their food. I switched from crumbles to pellets several months ago. During the transition I noticed they were picking through the pellets to get to the crumble and wasting a ton! I also switched up how I was feeding them so they couldn't waste so much of the feed. Could it be that they aren't eating as much as they should because they don't like the pellets?

I'm grasping at straws here.
I would put them back on a non medicated grower, and try a crumble again to see. Younger hens can be more cranky and prone to aggressive behaviors.
 
How much scratch are you throwing down for them each day? They will eat scratch in preference to their layer ration but it is lower in protein, so will dilute their overall protein intake if you give them too much of it. I appreciate you are throwing down the scratch to relieve boredom to try to distract them from the behaviour.

Have you observed them to see when they are doing it? If so, does it happen through the day and is one bird the problem or are they all doing it to each other? The latter would be a very unusual situation. If they are doing it at roost time, then perhaps look at your roost set up..... make the roosts higher so that they cannot reach and peck their feathers from below. Or perhaps there is not enough roost space.... add extra bars. I would be wary of a heat lamp in the coop as a fire risk and it may also allow them to see better to peck feathers.
Maybe if you post a photo of your set up we might spot something that could be altered to help. You could smear some Vicks Vapour rub on their bare skin. This will prevent frost bite and may also deter the pecking.
 
they either need more protein or they're just plain bored and have nothing better to do. Give them interesting treats (pumpkin will take them a long time to eat out) or toys (shiny CD on a string).
 

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