Help, I have a feather picker!

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Hey all, I have 9 girls & the coop is 8x8x10 & the outside run is 9x16x6h. They free range in the afternoon/evening as long as the weather is nice. Their feed is still a mixture of grower(18%) & layer(16%) since they just started laying. They geat treats every night & I feed everything from fruits and veggies to scratch & mealworms, shredded cheese, yogurt, squash, eggs, seeds, oatmeal, greens, really anything i have on hand & they can have. I tried a flock block but that seems to instigate pecking order. I've seen her do it in the evening & I know she's done it while I was at work during the day. She pretty much does it if one of the chickens are in front of her & she notices them. It's like it's an ingrained behavior but she stops if I yell her name.
 
Space sounds decent.
Are there lots of distractions in run?
Like 2x2's and branches for roosts, logs, stumps, pallets leaned against wall or up on concrete blocks, grazing frames, old table/chairs/benches. All those can help.

Might want to scale back on the treats, except for the animal protein ones.
Segregating her for a few days might help, try it out and see.
Pecking orders can change when they start laying,
and they get antsy and crabby.
 
If your picked chickens are bleeding you might want to separate those ones as well. Not sure if any still are but once blood is drawn they all seem to pick at it and can cause more damage. I had one that was picked at because my Rooster drew blood on her so they all started picking at the blood spot. It was only for a cpl days until she healed.
 
SashaLClay said:
If your picked chickens are bleeding you might want to separate those ones as well. Not sure if any still are but once blood is drawn they all seem to pick at it and can cause more damage. I had one that was picked at because my Rooster drew blood on her so they all started picking at the blood spot. It was only for a cpl days until she healed.
Click to expand...
It was just a little blood & I got to it before the others really saw it. I have blood stop powder & blu-kote. Everyone seems to be healing ok.
 
aart said:
Space sounds decent.
Are there lots of distractions in run?
Like 2x2's and branches for roosts, logs, stumps, pallets leaned against wall or up on concrete blocks, grazing frames, old table/chairs/benches. All those can help.

Might want to scale back on the treats, except for the animal protein ones.
Segregating her for a few days might help, try it out and see.
Pecking orders can change when they start laying,
and they get antsy and crabby.
Click to expand...
Thanks! We have some distractions, outside roosts, dust bath, stumps. I kinda wondered if the laying had something to with it. We also got some really cold rainy weather lately so they've been stuck inside. I will look into some more boredom busters. Hopefully separating her will help. She's not happy about it.
 

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