Help, why does 14 wk old banty roo rip pullet shoulder feathers out?

kelly12

Hatching
8 Years
Jun 22, 2011
7
0
7
Ontario, Canada
Greetings!

I am new to the byc forum! This is my first post.

I have a flock of 14 week old varied breeds. Have had them since they were day olds. They are ALL adorable and up till now have gotten along wonderfully. Eeny (our golden-laced cochin banty) started crowing about 4 weeks ago and has established himself as THE man over the entire flock including our 10 pullets and one late comer a 10 week old chantecler male. Lately he has been grabbing the shoulders of the other chickens and while they squawk and try to run away he rips out a chunk of their feathers.
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Once I saw him pick up one of the feathers as it drifted to the ground and actually eat (swallow) the entire feather! Until I saw him eat the feather I thought this was just normal dominant behaviour. Does anyone know if this is normal and if I should be worrying about it or not? He is (like all of them) quite a pet otherwise...they all like to get up in my lap and nap!
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Thanks for any feedback on my charming dozen!
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