I think I found a miracle cure for feather picking

[azygous]

Welcome to BYC! Yes, this is a very supportive community. We do try to help each other, and when that fails, we provide sympathy and support.

I started this thread because feather-picking is one of the most heart-breaking of chicken problems. It's certainly had me tearing my hair out, trying to figure a way to beat it. If you read all 26 pages of this thread, you know that I and many people here have explored all the causes and treatments for this problem, and the conclusion is there are many causes and only a few ways to treat it.

Feather picking, more than a nutritional deficiency, is a behavior problem. And there's even some evidence it is learned, like egg eating. I have been very vigilant that this problem doesn't spread to more of my flock. In spite of that, I now have two more feather-pickers. The objective is to curb the behavior and to try to get them to change. Chickens are creatures of habit, but if you deprive them of the habit, it is possible to get them to forget about it. I've had some luck in the past achieving remissions after several months of the culprits wearing pinless peepers. But the behavior resumed again after a few months.

The Bumpa-bits are an attempt to curb and change this behavior. It's my hope that if these culprits cannot pick feathers for several months, I can remove the bits and they will have forgotten their previous compulsion for feather eating.

Jim will have the bits in soon, and we can order as many as we need from him at Forcocolorado.com I double checked with him on the size, and the bits he's getting are 30 millimeters and will fit a standard hen properly.

I've observed, however, that Flo isn't eating as much as she should since wearing the device on her beak. It's not so much that she can't eat as well with it, although she is still learning, but the others are preventing her from spending enough time at the feeders to get the amount of food she needs. She hasn't laid an egg since I installed the bit on her. So tonight I fished out a chick feeder and placed it in an out-of-the-way spot so she can eat without the others interrupting. She took full advantage of it, so I'm confident I've identified the problem. It's something you all need to be aware of when you put these bits on your feather-pickers.

 

[mommajac]

It has been a year (almost to date) since I have become obsessed with my girls. They moved from the brooder to a shed that was lovingly rebuilt for them with cement floors to keep the digging critters out. The floors were covered with sand to make clean up a breeze and their nesting boxes were laced with pine shavings. All was good until January...

For the most part the ladies were able to roam a few hours a day until the inclement weather made it so they were cooped up more. I have pictures of them dusting and basking in the sun on a beautiful November day. I began to notice one particular hen was being picked on and attributed it to the pecking order. THEN....tail feathers on most of the girls started breaking and neck feathers missing. I introduced a hanging cabbage, flock block, and replaced the sand with straw.

I know this sounds crazy but I think the sand was part of the picking culprit. Once they had straw to play in and scratch through in their coop their demeanor changed and they became happier. I still use sand under their roost and do my best to remove the poop laden straw (not the meticulous coop I had prior to the sand removal).

As mentioned in my last post I did take two of the girls (eight total) to the vet and it was confirmed that, "MEAN GIRLS SUCK." I thought possibly the girls had lice or mites and treated them as though they did even though I didn't see any bugs. One of the Bards has a naked belly which is what spurred me on thinking it possibly could be lice. The vet thought it might be the sand and the way she snuggles in it. My intuition may be way off regarding the sand as the problem. I would love some feedback since I would prefer to keep the floors sandy since it is so easy to maintain.

I am SO grateful for BYC (and incredibly happy for finding this thread)!!!

 

[azygous]

Oh yeah! Sand has been mentioned by veteran chicken keepers as a factor in feather-picking. I don't know whether this is rationalizing from someone who keeps sand in the run because it is easy to keep clean, but there are many other causes of feather-picking, and you can go crazy trying to eliminate them all. You have to weigh the benefits and the liabilities when making these choices, and decide what works best in your case. No one has really adequately made the case as to why sand causes feather-picking, most evidence sounds just coincidental.

I wonder if you might have had the sand and straw not deep enough and they may have been damaging their feathers against the rough concrete when trying to dirt bathe. Do you often find patches of concrete exposed? But you say you have also seen some of them in the act of plucking feathers. So you could have two causes of the feather damage to consider.

My belief is that chronic pickers have the seed for this behavior planted in their DNA and it can be activated at any time. I think the only sane thing we can do is to protect the victims (saddles) and restrict the culprits somehow. All of the methods of restricting the culprits have been chronicled on this thread.

The Bumpa-bit is but the latest attempt to restrict and possibly rehabilitate the behavior.

You might want to try the Bumpa-bits, or give pinless peepers a try. Things that don't work are pine tar and other messy paint-on deterrents. I'd also decide if the rough concrete is a factor and consider a resin coating to seal and smooth the surface.

 

[Crazie Eddie]

Oh yeah! Sand has been mentioned by veteran chicken keepers as a factor in feather-picking.

Hmmmm My coop started out with straw over a pond liner (long story about barn drainage problems) with a grass/dirt/leaves/straw enclosed run. With no to limited access to dirt in the winter I decided to give them a "bath tub" filled with play sand which I read somewhere was a suitable substitute for just plain dirt - is this not a good idea?

 

[azygous]

Eddie, they need some source of dirt bathing. One tub of sand isn't going to make them all into feather-pickers! There's no concrete evidence sand runs cause feather-picking. My flock have been living in a sand run for five years, and out of fifteen, I have three problems.

There's more to feather-picking than just digging in sand. Two of my three with the problem behavior are extremely hyperactive. The third has a slow, meticulous and focused fixation on feathers. All three display a pathological attention to the feathers of their mates. I just don't see how sand plays any role in their aberrant behavior. I was merely relating that some chicken keepers have made the association between sand runs and feather-picking. No one has provided any conclusive anecdotal evidence linking the two.

 

[mommajac]

I suppose using sand could be coincidental in the picking problem. I have considered putting it back in for the summer months since it is cooler, cleaner, and easier to maintain. Inside the coop it is 7' x 11 opening to a covered dog run that is 6' x 10'. Maybe this is too small for 8 girls. I open the gate for them to roam anywhere from 2-6 hours daily weather and schedule permitting. (Peregrine falcons, fox, cougars, and coyotes inhabit our neighborhood too so I have to be present).


The is Princess Buttercup. As you can see her tail feathers are destroyed (as are 7 of the 8 girls). By far she is the most precocious and I am surprised any bird has been able to break or pluck a feather. This is heartbreaking as you well know.

Forco has been ordered. Do I try game bird feed? Avia Charge 2000? I would use the peepers however, I am not too sure of the culprit/culprits. I really only see them get angry with one another -- not a particular picking pecker! I give the girls BOSS and dried meal worms as treats. Occasionally I will open some canned tuna or salmon for some extra protein. Now I am wondering if I am giving them too many worms and they will end up with kidney failure. I am second guessing every decision I have been making for them. Ugh!!!

I have a neighbor who doesn't name his birds and reminded me I could pick up some chicks for $4 a piece at Golden Mill. He suggested I simply start a new flock. All of my girls are named and each of their enduring personalities has been recognized.

Again, I am so grateful for all of information and candid responses.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Why would mealworms cause a kidney failure? Are they super high in calcium or something?

 

[azygous]

Has anyone noticed that usually it's us obsessive chicken keepers who have the feather-pickers? It makes me wonder if we're conveying some negative energy to our chickens. Certainly we are more apt to over-do it and end up causing more problems like I did during the time I had Flo in chicken jail for an extended period, causing several of the others to pick fights with each other as well as her.

Sometimes I wonder if it's that laid-back chicken keepers don't seem to have the problems we obsessives do, or is it that they just don't notice them as much?

Yes, there could be a danger in feeding too much high grade protein, but feeding meal worms, which are 50% protein, isn't going to cause renal failure or liver problems. Occasional canned tuna, likewise. Keep it in moderation, and you shouldn't have to worry.

Princess Buttercup is even more stunning than I pictured her. It does appear that someone is obsessed with her prominent tail, but the good news is she'll grow a new one come fall. Hopefully by then you'll have identified the culprit(s) and inhibited their behavior somehow. Set up your observation late in the afternoon since that seems to be the time of day most feather-pickers really ramp up their destructive behavior. It shouldn't take long to see who's doing it.

If they get free-range time every day, space isn't the problem. But try to observe their behavior in the run because that's more likely where the picking is occurring.

 

[Crazie Eddie]

Has anyone noticed that usually it's us obsessive chicken keepers who have the feather-pickers? It makes me wonder if we're conveying some negative energy to our chickens. Certainly we are more apt to over-do it and end up causing more problems like I did during the time I had Flo in chicken jail for an extended period, causing several of the others to pick fights with each other as well as her.

I've tried everything else, I guess I'll try Reiki next! I am actually a Reiki practitioner, and ashamed I didn't think of it sooner. And I have been very stressed lately, and it may be bleeding over to my chickens - I know the cats and dogs have picked up on it.

And as for the problem of us being chicken obsessed, I suspect the problem is that we treat them like pets, where the old-timers would have enjoyed a meal of chicken and dumplings and just moved on...

As an aside, I went to visit the friend who started this with me - she had taken back the third rooster and he is GORGEOUS! I think she has 3 roosters at the moment, and everyone looks healthy and happy... sigh...

 

[azygous]

Hey! I'm a certified Reiki practitioner, too! The chickens really soak it up! It hasn't worked all that great for the pickers, but it sure soothes broodies coming off broody PMS! It gets them over it quicker.

Let us know how it works for your pickers.