I don’t know what’s happening?! Anyone have an idea?

[Glo1983]

I recently moved my chickens to another location on my property. I went to go check my chickens one day and found that they are losing feathers and there are gnarly wounds and they are pecking at each other and at themselves it’s not molting season. What could this be and how would I go about dealing with it there’s no evidence of anything getting in to attack. I also have eight Rhode Island reds right next-door and another cage the same size and they are all fine. Thank you in advance for the help.

 

[sourland]

One or more birds in the Barred Rock pen are feather pecking/plucking. Any bird that is not showing feather loss is most likely the culprit. Do an on site search on Pin Less Peepers. They can be used to stop the practice and sometimes even to break the bad habit once all birds are refeathered. What % protein feed are you using? If on the low end supplemental protein may help.

 

[Debbie292d]

Good advice!

Hiya, and welcome to BYC!!

 

[Matilda84]

I would guess that moving them to a new caused stress which can lead to feather pecking. Additionally if their new area is not big enough or has less things do do e.g. less dirt to scratch in or less things to peck at, then it could be boredom, although from your pictures it looks like they do have enough space and a nice dusty area. You could try providing some chicken toys to keep them entertained, even just some hanging treats for them to peck at, although from personal experience this is not guaranteed to work as my chickens are scared of any toys lol. You could try an anti-pecking spray but again I would say it is 50/50 if this works depending on how persistent the bully is. You should put some purple wound spray on anywhere with blood, as chickens are attracted to blood/red so may peck at wounds making them worse. If you figure out which bird is pecking then you could try isolating them from the flock for a few days to knock her confidence down a bit?

Good luck!

 

[Glo1983]

One or more birds in the Barred Rock pen are feather pecking/plucking. Any bird that is not showing feather loss is most likely the culprit. Do an on site search on Pin Less Peepers. They can be used to stop the practice and sometimes even to break the bad habit once all birds are refeathered. What % protein feed are you using? If on the low end supplemental protein may help.

Thank you for this. I will look into the pin less peepers. And up protein.