I think I found a miracle cure for feather picking

[pegm]

BTW, Goldies tail is coming back in fine, so Meredith seems to be leaving it alone. She and Goldie hang together, and I have not even seen her looking at Goldies butt lately. I will keep the peepers on for a few months tho. All is well in the coop, the new coop and run are finished (praise the Lord), and they seem happy. They are used to so much noise now they aren't fazed by much of anything. I built this coop/run by myself, I wanted to be able to say "I built this". Well, the other evening, I did have a friend come over to put the corrugated steel roofing on because if I'm not directly over the drill I don't have the upper body strength to get it thru the metal. Anyway, he worked till nearly full dark. I let the girls back into the run/coop, and they went to the coop to roost with Brian and his impact driver right over their heads. I guess they won't be fazed by anything now. Thank you for encouraging me to use the peepers. So far they are the answer.

 

[azygous]

Glad the peepers are working for Meredith. As you can see, they aren't working worth #$%^ on Flo.

She seems to be content alone in jail. At least she isn't getting terrorized by the Sussex Four.

 

[pegm]

Just posting a progress report. Goldies tail is nearly all grown in, I have not seen Meredith even look at her butt in many days. She still is the boss hen, but just the normal peck to say "get out of my way". I am so thankful for the peepers and I am sure Goldie is too. I have built the 5 gal feeder with the feeding ports that is on another thread, I'm not sure Mer is using it, time will tell. Just been tweaking my new coop and run I built, they seem happy. DH says he is going to move his chair and TV out there...

.

 

[azygous]

Glad to have the positive report! I, too, have something positive to report, but as soon as I do, it'll probably reverse.

Flo has spent the past couple weeks in jail, and three days ago, she started getting furloughs. She's been on good behavior so far.

My conclusion is that if you can interrupt the feather-picking behavior, by any means possible, you may get the behavior stopped, at least for a while. To do nothing simply reinforces the behavior, ingraining it as habit. I would urge anyone facing this problem to get on it as soon as you can, interrupt it, through isolation or pinless peepers, and keep a very close eye on your culprit after releasing them back into the flock.

Picking may not be curable, but it can be controlled.

 

[pegm]

Good news! You might be just keeping her unbalanced enough to thwart her bad behavior. Does she continue to lay with all these transitions? Meredith did.

 

[azygous]

I caught Flo nibbling on Joycie's neck this evening. Just a taste. I suggested she go in and roost.

None of my flock is laying due to molting. But the times in the past that Flo has been an inmate in the jail, she did continue to lay.

 

[Maurice11]

the answer is: FEATHER FIX - i works, no more kitty kibble, nada. it works. Get it! And I have Polish chickens with lots of feathers that need fixing. WHEW.

 

[azygous]

Thanks Maurice! I assume this is what you're referring to http://www.nutrenaworld.com/products/poultry/naturewise-poultry/feather-fixer/ Nutrena Feather Fixer feed for repairing feathers, speeding up replacement during molt, and preventing mites. It sure looks like it has lots of great stuff in it! I'd be willing to give it a try if I can find it.

However, I don't see how it cures feather-picking. Flo mows down feathers as fast as they grow back. I'm waiting for someone to invent a cure for that!

 

[Maurice11]

well, feather plucking, as I understand it, is a need, desire, want, whatever, for protein. Rather than feeding all that excess (especially for Polish chickens) this seems to be a complete excess protein, so to speak, and that should stop the plucking. I have one Polish 'in the shower in isolation' just to get her tail feathers back, feeding primarily Feather Fixer and raw hamburger (together with mash) - after bathing, and now blu-kote on her naked butt. Not sure when I can return her to her flock. By the way, these are 7 month old chickens, and my third mixed flock, and never had this problem before.

 

[azygous]

Can you report back her regularly? I want to know if Feather Fixer fixes feather picking. (Try saying that real fast six times!) If your problem pickers don't resume picking, we'll know we're on to something.