Hen picking out her own feathers

[justplainbatty]

Hi, I'm looking for advice. I have 4 hens in a massive coup and they get let out every 2 or 3 days to free range in my garden. Yesterday they were out and we noticed about 10 white feathers on a grass, assumed they were from my only Sussex hen . This morning, I went to the coop and the hut is full of her feathers. She seems to be grooming, not excessively, and they're just falling out. I've had her a year and last year she didn't molt to this extent. They are coming out round her neck, back and breast. I'm worried. Please can anyone advise?

Sounds like a hard molt coming on. She will quit laying too. It's all good as long as no one pecks her bloody. Give her extra protein for the next month to help her generate her new feathers.

 

[justplainbatty]

I'm not sure this is the right thread for this question. How ever I'll try any way. My top hen plucks her feathers only while she is laying. Is this normal ?

It can be, "feathering the nest" as it were. My production flock throws the litter around themselves just before they lay. They are not bred to set so they "pretend" with the litter, just a shadow of the instinct that has been bred out of them.

 

[Angie16hearts]

It can be, "feathering the nest" as it were. My production flock throws the litter around themselves just before they lay. They are not bred to set so they "pretend" with the litter, just a shadow of the instinct that has been bred out of them.

She is a OEG hen mix I believe with welsummer. She once tried to go broody but stopped at day 3 and didn't lay another egg for 3 months. She is very clean smaller hen but the head hen!!! It's her soft feathers she pulled and 6-8 of them but is not broody. Is it a head hens way of showing that's her laying box or could she be going broody again? It's only her that does this. She lays then perfectly around laying nest/box. Thanks fir your help! I imagine this is something she will do for life?

 

[justplainbatty]

She is a OEG hen mix I believe with welsummer. She once tried to go broody but stopped at day 3 and didn't lay another egg for 3 months. She is very clean smaller hen but the head hen!!! It's her soft feathers she pulled and 6-8 of them but is not broody. Is it a head hens way of showing that's her laying box or could she be going broody again? It's only her that does this. She lays then perfectly around laying nest/box. Thanks fir your help! I imagine this is something she will do for life?

I think it is just instinct and she may do it for life. She can afford a few down feathers a day. If she becomes bare, then worry. She may also become broody again in spring and mean it!

If you by chance are using straw or hay in the nest, try pine shavings. She might use those instead of her feathers.

 

[Angie16hearts]

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I think it is just instinct and she may do it for life. She can afford a few down feathers a day. If she becomes bare, then worry. She may also become broody again in spring and mean it!  
If you by chance are using straw or hay in the nest, try pine shavings. She might use those instead of her feathers.

k, so I get home today. I go check on the ladies and the same hen is in nesting box. She's 3 x the size as normal and doesn't want me any where close. I took old eggs and gently lifted her and put a few in front of her. She emedetly moved the two eggs I out in front of her under her. I'm curantky pulling the fertike eggs I would like her to hatch. I'll let her try again for 3 days. I need more eggs from the Ameraucana's . She's a small hen so I'm thinking 6-8 eggs but really am not sure how many she can handle.she has always slept on the perch with our Roo and the other hens he picks. I just hope she does it this time. So I don't have to wait 3 months for her to lay again. I'm afraid to move clutch, last time I pulled it after watching her try to get hormones going for a week. That's when she stopped laying. I can't check j box for plucked feathers. So I'm in limbo. Any advice? Thank you so much! Yesterday I pulled the straw and out line shavings in.

 

[justplainbatty]

O
k, so I get home today. I go check on the ladies and the same hen is in nesting box. She's 3 x the size as normal and doesn't want me any where close. I took old eggs and gently lifted her and put a few in front of her. She emedetly moved the two eggs I out in front of her under her. I'm curantky pulling the fertike eggs I would like her to hatch. I'll let her try again for 3 days. I need more eggs from the Ameraucana's . She's a small hen so I'm thinking 6-8 eggs but really am not sure how many she can handle.she has always slept on the perch with our Roo and the other hens he picks. I just hope she does it this time. So I don't have to wait 3 months for her to lay again. I'm afraid to move clutch, last time I pulled it after watching her try to get hormones going for a week. That's when she stopped laying. I can't check j box for plucked feathers. So I'm in limbo. Any advice? Thank you so much! Yesterday I pulled the straw and out line shavings in.

K, she is broody/setting. I would go with 6. Don't spread out the hatching eggs over too many days because after the first few hatch, she may not want to finish the rest. After 21 to 28 days of setting and if they have new chicks, they are ready to move on. Good luck for new Chicky babies!

 

[peeps704221]

I know this sounds really wrong but, chickens LOVE chicken and eggs. We learned this from a lady who shows her gorgeous polish hens and rosters at state fairs. I hadn't feed them eggs until she said this because I had read that it makes them eat the eggs they lay. This is not the case. They only eat the eggs that are cracked. If you don't want to feed them chicken or eggs that is totally understandable, I suggest feeding them pinto beans. Our chicken always lay HUGE eggs after a pot of cockpot cooked beans. I hope this helped! I have a production red named Goldy who has been plucking her but feathers... We think that she is broody because you can always find her in the coop sitting on eggs. She rarely leaves so I think that she isn't eating enough so she is eating the feathers she pluckes.

 

[jamiebelle1207]

I searched for a a topic dealing with this issue. I have a black australorp who is chronically broody (but easily broken) and has plucked her breast and chewed the feathers off her back and shoulders. At first I thought it was the roo being rough with her, but it isnt. She does this to herself. It makes me sad. I will try giving her more protein.

 

[Jackalope Vigil]

I've only seen plucking in my chickens when they were going broody. I'm thinking that maybe if she isn't broody and doesn't have a disease that maybe she has a mental disorder? I know that a lot of birds pluck compulsively and maybe she's just one of those guys. It could be from stress, although I'm not entirely sure what the source of her stress could be.

 

[Jackalope Vigil]

It's really difficult to say since chickens are seen as a cheap commodity (not by BYC, of course ) instead of an animal, so not a lot of research is done on their behalf. But from looking at other birds plucking behaviors I would say she has trichotillomania.