Feathers in the coop

[emilyweir]

Hello! We have a flock of 5 and previously had issues with one hen bullying the others. We added clutter to the run and pinless peepers on the bully and the problem was solved. Our bully managed to get her peepers off and for about two weeks we had no issues.

Until this week. The last three mornings I’ve gone out to scoop poop and I’ve found black feathers all over the coop floor. My French copper black marans has a bare bum and I’m inclined to think it’s the bully again but am wondering why it’s only happening in the coop now? They have two roosting bars, only the top one gets used though.
I don’t want to cull the bully but we will be leaving for several months and having family house and chicken sit for us and I’m nervous about the feather picking while we are away. Could it be any disease or something else causing the feather loss? Our hens hatched this spring so I doubt it’s a molt. And temps just dropped here to the teens, if that matters.

 

[The Chick Addict]

Hello! We have a flock of 5 and previously had issues with one hen bullying the others. We added clutter to the run and pinless peepers on the bully and the problem was solved. Our bully managed to get her peepers off and for about two weeks we had no issues.

Until this week. The last three mornings I’ve gone out to scoop poop and I’ve found black feathers all over the coop floor. My French copper black marans has a bare bum and I’m inclined to think it’s the bully again but am wondering why it’s only happening in the coop now? They have two roosting bars, only the top one gets used though.
I don’t want to cull the bully but we will be leaving for several months and having family house and chicken sit for us and I’m nervous about the feather picking while we are away. Could it be any disease or something else causing the feather loss? Our hens hatched this spring so I doubt it’s a molt. And temps just dropped here to the teens, if that matters.

Hello! Are there any roosters in your flock?

 

[emilyweir]

Hello! Are there any roosters in your flock?

No roosters

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

Are you certain it’s not a molt? Two of my April pullets are molting. My Light brahma looks utterly pathetic without a tail or head and neck feathers. At first I thought bullying, too.
Check for emerging feathers. There should be some if its a molt.

 

[dawg53]

Isolate the bully in a cage away and unseen from the rest of the flock for 10 days. Then reintroduce her back to the flock during the day. The bully will be at the bottom of the pecking order and perhaps she wont do anymore picking. If she does, get rid of her however you see fit.

 

[cluckcluckhens]

We had a bully a short time after 2012. I was so busy protecting the one getting hurt all the time. The bully took out all the australorp girls. Don't wait too long. We put the bully in another area two weeks at a time, brought her back in and the cycle continued for over several months. After talking to the feed store he said get rid of her so my hubby did the deed. This method did not work for us. A silver laced Wyandotte did the deed. She was a road runner on two feet and she did not grow that much. I'm sorry you are having problems.
What she was doing is pecking them on the head.

 

[theoldchick]

Since you are leaving for a few months and your flock will be in the care of another person, it would be best to keep the bully away from the others. If you don't want to cull, you will need to construct another area to keep her in. Chicken bullies can create havoc in a flock and you may return to find a tattered flock reduced in number and a very frazzled pet sitter.

 

[KyCoop]

Can you put a camera in your coop to find out for sure what's going on? An inexpensive baby monitor will let you see and hear what's going on.

 

[RubelliteRose]

Inexpensive trail cams are also a great tool to have and can be mounted in the coop. However, it very well could be a molt. I have had several girls molt in their first fall/winter. I have also noticed that the first winter molt, at least in my birds, tends to be an incomplete molt as compared to their molts in the following years