help! chickens sticking head through fence and losing feathers! Does anyone know how to help this???

[Reamuskitty1]

OK, This weekend I was with my aunt's and mine flock and her and my chickens were losing a lot of feathers, she told me they were sticking their heads through the fence around the coop and it was a little scary. My 2 chickens that were in her flock had lost a lot of their hackles and looked prone to being attacked. PLEASE HELP I DON'T WANT TO LOSE THEM TO A PREDATOR!

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

I keep the bottom on my cage wrapped in cardboard for the first couple of weeks until the birds are to large to fit through the wire. 6inches of hardware cloth around the bottom would help too. (Predators can easily break through chicken wire, some even hardware cloth, so if you have a run covered only in chicken wire anything will easily get them)

 

[Reamuskitty1]

THANKS SO MUCH