Hens (and rooster) getting pecked, blue stuff didn't work.

[speckledhen]

I feel so bad for these guys...er, girls/guy.

Every one of them is getting picked at like crazy. The girls all have bald backs toward the butt, and the rooster has a bald butt, and evidence of picking at his neck. They have plenty of room, plus and outdoor run, get treats, etc. I've treated them all with the blue spray stuff and it isn't working!

Thoughts?

First of all, if you mean BluKote, that is not designed as an anti-pick solution. I'm not entirely sure why folks are recommending it for that, if that is the one you're talking about. It's an antiseptic spray for wounds.

Bald backs toward the bum can be entirely due to the rooster himself, or the rooster plus molting. Also, bare bums are mostly due to molting around here. Never, ever had mites or lice here, but we've sure had some mooning chickens, LOL. And the bum fluff can take ages to grow back at the end of a molt, too.

 

[farm-a-zootical]

Thanks, Pop, we've been mixing game bird feed per instruction & sunflower seeds instead of scratch. Is that OK?
Yes, my birds are naughty girls. They could be doing backup to ZZ Topp for 'cheap sunglasses' right now.
This is my last resort. No lice or mites, plenty of protein, simply bad habit. I know it's a result of being penned up more, our chickens got to free range when & where I grew up, never had this issure, with little to no predators. The predators don't have many enemies here anymore. No one hunts, they're over populated, & they're being driven into rural areas by plenty of developments. Therefore, we have to adjust our free ranging habits to keep our animals safe.

 

[buckabucka]

I saw my white leghorn pull several feathers this morning. Looks like the peepers may go back on this week, as I have noticed the habit does spread. I'm not ready to cull her yet, as she is one of only a very few hens laying this winter.

 

[potocki99]

First of all, if you mean BluKote, that is not designed as an anti-pick solution. I'm not entirely sure why folks are recommending it for that, if that is the one you're talking about. It's an antiseptic spray for wounds.

Bald backs toward the bum can be entirely due to the rooster himself, or the rooster plus molting. Also, bare bums are mostly due to molting around here. Never, ever had mites or lice here, but we've sure had some mooning chickens, LOL. And the bum fluff can take ages to grow back at the end of a molt, too.

Yeah, its the BlueKot

I'll be heading to the feed store shortly and see if they have anything particularly for the picking. I would agree with you on the Rooster theory if he wasn't bald on the butt and neck - I'm sure some of the baldness on the hens could be him, but probably not all. And, I have one hen that is in fairly good shape, although I have a hard time believing only one could inflict all this damage!

 

[farm-a-zootical]

I don't have a rooster & took the time to find out that mine were nuding one another on the roost & chasing the weakest one around the run & started plucking her back. On with their peepers I'd tried to avoid. Bad habits die hard, if at all. I've always had one very calm black sex link in with the tetras to mother them & the traitors started on her backside en masse. Again, I so hope the peepers work for me!

 

[klmclain1]

First of all, if you mean BluKote, that is not designed as an anti-pick solution. I'm not entirely sure why folks are recommending it for that, if that is the one you're talking about. It's an antiseptic spray for wounds.

Bald backs toward the bum can be entirely due to the rooster himself, or the rooster plus molting. Also, bare bums are mostly due to molting around here. Never, ever had mites or lice here, but we've sure had some mooning chickens, LOL. And the bum fluff can take ages to grow back at the end of a molt, too.

Yeah, I know it's not for pecking.. however, when I use it to "color" my white leghorn, the other chickens see her differently and she understands that - she totally freaks out and it seems to knock her down to the bottom of the pecking order for a while. The pecking STOPS completely for a couple of months. It's an interesting phenomenon.

 

[Chris09]

There can be a lot of reasons for pecking/ feather pecking,
Nutrition,
Boredom,
Environmental,
Lice Mites

If I were you I would first dust them good then make sure your feed is around 18% protein and contains animal proteins.

As for the Peepers all there going to do is cover up the real problem.
If you need to use a Anti-peck lotion try using Rooster Booster Pick-No-More Lotion, it will work a whole lot better than[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Blue Kote.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Chris[/FONT]

 

[farm-a-zootical]

This site is a great support system. Thank you, Chris. I've narrowed mine down to boredom & do what I can, but I'm not a miracle worker. We don't have many animals right now because we only get what we can do our absolute best to care for properly & don't spread ourselves too thin. I don't mind the peepers being a last resort so long as they're healthy & leading safe chicken lives. I don't choose to cull because of a poor hen attitude but have reached the end of my rope. Like another member posted, when they start eating better & getting more attention than actual family members, it's time to choose. I know mine stopped only when I was able to watch them non-stop free range. Then we had a hawk attack. And another. And 7 trapped raccoons & opposums. And fox outside the coops this morning. And I did say coop-s, not coop. We actually invested in building another small one & separating the flock to see if that helped. NADA. And I broke a bone in my hand when I slipped trying to catch one to treat it's behind. Tough love is on the menu now. If they don't reach a happy medium, chicken kiev.

 

[confusedbanti]

Did you try Flock Block ? I got a netting for pond fish to help me catch the little road runners . Works great. I also put Pine Tar on their behinds and that is starting to work as well, PLUS red light inside the coop .(the one without heat)
keep us posted

 

[farm-a-zootical]

I'm glad to say we have. Two flock blocks, two suet cages, two red lights in appropriate cages, everything on the bottoms I have heard about & even made a horrible mixture of bag balm/sulfer, which caused them to practically gag when they ate a feather, wipe their beaks off & grab another one. I could use the 'Chicken Whisperer'.