Help I have a butt pecker

[Hannah2911]

The suspect is the pictured hen. They are Easter eggers and are 9 months old. This is a new thing. This hen is picking out the others tail feathers. I put no pickn on the girls tails today. I will do blue kote tomorrow. About our setup. I’m in the city and not a lot of space so my girls don’t leave their run. I wish I could make it bigger but this is what I have. Their run is 8 feet by 12 feet and I have 5 hens. Their hen house is connected and it’s 4.5 feet by 8 feet. It is shorter and not big like I’d like but I didn’t know much about chickens when I started. I added onto it making it longer. I will build a larger one this year sometime. In their run they have two feeders a waterer a concrete block to trim beaks and a perch I’ll add a photo. I had a swing but they didn’t use it. I have a tangerine toy on the side of the wire hanging. I feed nutrena crumble layer feed. I have a separate feeder with oyster shells. I give lettuce in hanging bags and have a dangling stick thing I spike veggies and fruit on that hang from the roof. I give meal worms as treats regularly. I bought a small dog kennel for a chicken jail. When I saw her pluck a feather I put her in it but intend to let her out of jail for bedtime. I don’t know how to stop this and any help would greatly be appreciated

 

[Bawkbok]

It seems like your run space of 96 sq. ft. is sufficient for 5 birds but they are probably bored and boredom can create some behavioral issues such as pecking.

Can you add more stuff to your run to create points of interest and other items to perch on, such as a log or a tree limb? Are they able to roam the yard to get some exercise or are they confined all the time? Allowing for yard recess for an hour or two before roosting may help alleviate confinement stress.

Do they have a designated area for dirt bathing? This is a favorite activity for chickens and it helps to clean their skin and feathers, deterring parasites. Some people use old tires and fill it with a dirt/sand mixture for dust bathing.

Is she at the top of the pecking order? If she is pulling feathers and making others bleed, this will create further issues as chickens are attracted to blood and it could lead to cannibalism.
You may want to consider trying pinless peepers on her. I have never used them myself but others on this site have and have had good success. This would prevent her from pecking others.
As they are still pullets, this behavior, once ingrained, might be more difficult to eliminate as they mature.

I'm assuming they are all laying at this point?

 

[Susan Skylark]

I have quail so it is probably different with chickens, I had a butt pecker and my entire breeding flock had bald rumps, so much so my son had to take some 6 week old chicks to the fair instead of older birds as I didn’t want them sent home for possible mites or some such. Quail don’t unlearn bad habits, I finally culled the culprit and now all is well, hopefully your chicken just needs some tlc!

 

[Hannah2911]

It seems like your run space of 96 sq. ft. is sufficient for 5 birds but they are probably bored and boredom can create some behavioral issues such as pecking.

Can you add more stuff to your run to create points of interest and other items to perch on, such as a log or a tree limb? Are they able to roam the yard to get some exercise or are they confined all the time? Allowing for yard recess for an hour or two before roosting may help alleviate confinement stress.

Do they have a designated area for dirt bathing? This is a favorite activity for chickens and it helps to clean their skin and feathers, deterring parasites. Some people use old tires and fill it with a dirt/sand mixture for dust bathing.

Is she at the top of the pecking order? If she is pulling feathers and making others bleed, this will create further issues as chickens are attracted to blood and it could lead to cannibalism.
You may want to consider trying pinless peepers on her. I have never used them myself but others on this site have and have had good success. This would prevent her from pecking others.
As they are still pullets, this behavior, once ingrained, might be more difficult to eliminate as they mature.

I'm assuming they are all laying at this point?

I don’t have the ability to free range. They are all laying. She is the lead I believe. She doesn’t make them bleed. I had a dust bath in the beginning and they didn’t use it and just used the sand which is the bottom of the whole run. I don’t really know what else to add. They have the perch that’s in the photo and then one other that’s just one 2x4 on the other end. I I try the food like lettuce basket and swinging stick with fruit to keep them and then throw worms and corn in the sand so they can scratch and search for it. I don’t want to add so much in the run they have a lot less space but I’m also not sure what to add

 

[Hannah2911]

I have quail so it is probably different with chickens, I had a butt pecker and my entire breeding flock had bald rumps, so much so my son had to take some 6 week old chicks to the fair instead of older birds as I didn’t want them sent home for possible mites or some such. Quail don’t unlearn bad habits, I finally culled the culprit and now all is well, hopefully your chicken just needs some tlc!

I am trying to curb it but if I can’t I will work to rehome her to someone who has a lot more space. She’s really not mean.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

What are you feeding? Sometimes a lack of protein can trigger feather picking.

 

[Bawkbok]

If she is not doing it to be mean, could it be a hierarchy thing you're seeing or is she pecking other feathers out and creating bald patches? She may just be exerting her authority to establish pecking order.

 

[Hannah2911]

What are you feeding? Sometimes a lack of protein can trigger feather picking.

In the post I mentioned nutrena layer crumble and give fruits veggies and meal worms regularly as treats

 

[Hannah2911]

If she is not doing it to be mean, could it be a hierarchy thing you're seeing or is she pecking other feathers out and creating bald patches? She may just be exerting her authority to establish pecking order.

Yep they have bald bums. Not bleeding though. I guess it could be. These are my first chickens so I’m still learning. Tomorrow I’ll try to get a short video of it and post it

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I would cut out the treats and get a feed with higher protein for a while and see if it stops the butt pecking. If they are laying you could do an all-flock or even chick starter with oyster shell or crushed egg shell on the side. You might try this for a few weeks and see if it helps.