help! what did this damage to everyones tail feathers? what animal?

[thetajmahalcoop]

I'm hoping some one can help me out, about half of my flock look like someone took a pair of scissors to their tail feathers and just went snip snip snip halfway down...like a haircut.....did a wild animal do this to them or did someone vandalize my girls LOL? no other signs of damage/disease. Very strange indeed, I have searched all over this site and the internet with no luck...................

 

[Kittymomma]

If it looks like scissors, well I can't think of any four-legged animal that does that...sounds more like a teen-age animal. I hate to jump to that conculusion though, can you post some pictures? They'll pluck each others feathers out sometimes too...

 

[thetajmahalcoop]

its sooooo weird, I live in the boondocks with two large dogs, no teenagers for atleast a mile but stranger things have happened. It doesn't look like perfect scissor cuts it's weird I don't know how to describe it, almost like you took a pair of dull scissors and tried to cut...which makes me think a wild animal chomped down on their feathers trying to get at them. I don't know how to post pics but DH could help me with that tomm.

 

[Kittymomma]

Yeah, I think a pic would help. They could be doing it to each other. What is their housing like--coop size, run size? What do you feed them? How many chooks do you have?

 

[thetajmahalcoop]

I have about 30 in a huge coop and they free range all day . I am starting to think not enough roosts inside for night time though and maybe the crazy guineas are doing this, they can be very vicious, I could totally see them doing this! I am going to add more roosts and see if this helps. They get high grade chicken feed as much as they want, some scratch grains during the winter and table scraps.

 

[MakNat]

I've noticed that with mine too. That is exactly how I described it. Looks like someone cut it off with dull scissors. I don't have genuies and my coop is not over crowded. But I did notice that I 'HAD' a mouse problem????? I cleared up that nasty problem, but was thinking maybe they were nibbling at the feathers when the chickens were sleeping?? Just my guess.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

my next door neighbor's dog took off some tail feathers on one of my tailed araucanas. My goat nibbles on the chickens tails if they get too close to her. I don't know what did it, but the Araucana tribe in Chile liked their chickens with no tails because they claimed they were safer from preditors that way and from what I can see, that is true. Can a dog possibly have got in?

 

[thetajmahalcoop]

well I aked my DH if he thinks we have a mouse problem and he says no, we have a squirrel problem , says there is a squirrel nest up in the corner of the coop and didnt get rid of it and now there are babies in it. great. wonderful. now what the heck do I do? I can't kill baby squirrels!

 

[theFox]

Quote:
Then you need to understand that like other rodents they can and will cause problems.

If there are squirrels getting in then rats and mice can't be far behind if they weren't already there ahead of the squirrels.

 

[thetajmahalcoop]

I did say I can't kill baby squirrels, I NEVER said DH couldn't !!!!!!!!!!!! (hee hee hee insert evil laugh!)
oh trust me, this problem will be resolved tommorow!