Hen pulling out her own feathers??!

[carlyfloyd]

I'm so sorry. She does look pitiful. Are you certain that she's doing this to herself? What do you feed them, including treats? Whenever they're like this, they tend to peck at themselves, but I believe most times, they're itchy and reacting to that instead of plucking themselves. I'm sure it's not unheard of but I don't know anything about hens plucking themselves. It takes a lot of watching to see if she's actually plucking her own feathers out or just regular preening. Her flock could be plucking her, which is seen on BYC seldomly. This is usually due to the flock not having enough space, boredom or feeding issues (not getting enough protein). How many birds do you have? How big is your coop, minus the nesting boxes? I'll tag some members that will be more helpful
@3KillerBs @aart @LaFleche

I've watched her very closely and she is doing it - I've never seen anyone else peck at her. I've always seen her pecking at her feathers. I watched her pull a few new growths out from her back and eat them. I don't get it!

We have 13 hens total (no roosters), 3 coops for night time and they free range on our 1/3 acre backyard. There are 12 nesting boxes, though 2 or 3 of our hens are old and have stopped laying. They get layerfeed, dried black soldier fly larvae snacks a few times a week, and scratch daily. Should we add something in?

 

[carlyfloyd]

This hints to the other hens as culprits. She might just be trying to preen her painful butt after getting all her feathers plucked off by the others.

I think @HeatherKellyB is right.

Although sometimes a new pinfeather gets preened away as well, or a broody will pluck some of her belly feathers to bare her chest and prepare the nest, I have never seen a hen that plucked herself naked.

She's not broody- she's not laying again yet. I have watched her do it to herself many times (even eat what she pulls out and then she starts to bleed), though it is possible others are when we aren't watching. We've thought that she maybe has anxiety?? She didn't molt last year so this was her first molt. But she just won't leave herself alone it seems

 

[carlyfloyd]

I'm sorry, I have no insight into this other than to ask the same questions about space and feeding and to ask if you've checked the coop for lice and mites.

I don't know how to check for lice or mites. What would that entail? I don't know how visible the mites would be or if I'd need to look for signs they are there?

 

[3KillerBs]

They get layerfeed, dried black soldier fly larvae snacks a few times a week, and scratch daily.

Not add in, take out.

Take out everything except their balanced commercial feed because daily treats dilute the nutrition.

You could try switching to a higher protein feed.

 

[carlyfloyd]

Not add in, take out.

Take out everything except their balanced commercial feed because daily treats dilute the nutrition.

You could try switching to a higher protein feed.

Ok. They don't get the black soldier fly larvae daily, maybe only 2 or 3 times a week- but they do have a lot of protein. Are you saying to eliminate those and scratch completely?

 

[3KillerBs]

I don't know how to check for lice or mites. What would that entail? I don't know how visible the mites would be or if I'd need to look for signs they are there?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/mites-on-chickens-prevention-treatment.76797/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-fleas-dealing-with-external-parasites.74599/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...how-to-protect-your-chickens-from-lice.47695/

Ok. They don't get the black soldier fly larvae daily, maybe only 2 or 3 times a week- but they do have a lot of protein. Are you saying to eliminate those and scratch completely? View attachment 3014920

@U_Stormcrow is better at explaining chicken nutrition than I am, but layer feed is usually the bare minimum of protein to start with (adequate for commercial layer breeds under commercial conditions, but often not enough for dual-purpose breeds under backyard management), scratch dilutes the protein level, and *most* treat bugs are too high in fat.

Not all feather-picking issues are caused by insufficient protein in the diet, but many people find that switching to an 18-20% feed instead of 16% layer and cutting out treats improves the situation.

 

[carlyfloyd]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/mites-on-chickens-prevention-treatment.76797/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-fleas-dealing-with-external-parasites.74599/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...how-to-protect-your-chickens-from-lice.47695/



@U_Stormcrow is better at explaining chicken nutrition than I am, but layer feed is usually the bare minimum of protein to start with (adequate for commercial layer breeds under commercial conditions, but often not enough for dual-purpose breeds under backyard management), scratch dilutes the protein level, and *most* treat bugs are too high in fat.

Not all feather-picking issues are caused by insufficient protein in the diet, but many people find that switching to an 18-20% feed instead of 16% layer and cutting out treats improves the situation.

Super helpful information thank you. We just cleaned the coops this morning, but I'm going to check her for mites and lice now. We live in New Mexico and have lots of dirt for dust baths, but will look into getting a special dust kiddie pool for them.

 

[3KillerBs]

Super helpful information thank you. We just cleaned the coops this morning, but I'm going to check her for mites and lice now. We live in New Mexico and have lots of dirt for dust baths, but will look into getting a special dust kiddie pool for them.

Glad to be of help.

I just let my birds dig their own dust baths, but offering another can't hurt.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

@3KillerBs has covered it more than adequately.

The Nutrena Layer feed is fine for what it is, but it is designed to meet dietary minimums of commercial layers in commercial mangement settings, at the lowest possible cost, not for the long term health of the bird. Scratch, typically, is 8-9% protein, which drags protein levels down from that minimum number VERY rapidly. Your BSFL (TY! for linking the nutrition label), if you treat it as a treat (not more than 10% of the diet, by weight, daily) adds about 3.5% to your chicken's daily protein intake (and its a complete protein, that's good). Chickens, particularly dual purpose birds, or birds in holt, or young birds before start of lay, perform better at protein levels between 18-20%. Unfortunately, the BSFL also bring a LOT of fat.

The target fat level for a chicken's diet is about 3.5% +/-. Nutrena's NatureWise 16% Layer is 2.5% fat. adding the 10% (by weight) BSFL to their feed brings that fat level up from 2.5% to 6.0%! That's a level used for fattening CornishX for table, and not much else.

Even so, while feather picking CAN be a sign of protein deficiency (and may be, in your flock, depending on how much scratch they get), the BSFL, plus the self-picking, plus the lack of similar behaviors from other birds leads me to suspect some other cause.

I would, on general principles, recommend a return to just the commercial feed for a 2 week period - no treats - or even a brief substitution with a small bag of all flock or starter-grower to bump up the protein level - or even Nutrena's "feather fixer", which is simply a higher protein (18%) "layer feed" - just in case this is an artifact of the increased protein needs of molt. Maybe it resolves the issue.

It can also be neurological/pure boredom. They look like they have plenty of room, but you could add some clutter.

and yes, definite bug check.

 

[carlyfloyd]

Glad to be of help.

I just let my birds dig their own dust baths, but offering another can't hurt.

Yeah they have a lot of places in the backyard for dirt!

I just took pictures of my hen and can't really see any evidence of mites or lice based on the articles, but I'll keep checking.

We will buy the higher protein feed and cut back on scratch (the girls are going to be so mad! Lol they run to us for it every day)