Seriously. It's a nutritional supplement and I tried it as a final resort for feather picking.
I've written about Flo, my two-year old EE who began her nefarious career of feather picking at the very tender age of three months. At the time, I thought it was a protein deficiency so I fed her canned tuna for weeks. It had no effect on her. By this time she was eight months old, going about her liberating of the feathers of the flock in a determined and frenzied manner.
I decided to obtain pinless peepers, and when they came, I immediately installed a pair on her. They helped, but she adjusted to them to the point that she was still able to pick feathers off any back that was under her beak. I trimmed her beak. It helped a little. Then she reached the point a few months ago where the pinless peepers stopped working all together.
So I tried bumper bits. This device prevents the beak from closing all the way, and it was so cruel, and Flo couldn't eat, I removed it before one day was over. There was nothing left to do but to eat her. No, wait, I'm just kidding. I segregated her. She spent days in a separate enclosure and nights in a separate coop. Additionally, this feather picking problem had spread to four others in the flock, who were all sporting pinless peepers, too.
Around this time, I was over at some friends for dinner and the topic of managing pets with strange fixations came up. These people had great luck with a product called "Forco" in curbing poop eating in dogs. This product is a nutritional supplement for all animals, a cereal based substance full of vitamins and natural intestinal nutrients.
I decided to give it a try on Flo so I ordered some. When it cam, I offered it free choice, one scoop a day, to the entire flock of fifteen. After a few weeks, I removed the peepers from the other four hens, and around week seven, I decided to remove Flo's pinless peepers. Much to my surprise she showed no inclination to pick feathers. Even during the later afternoon, when her feather picking was usually at its most frenzied, she appeared calm and uninterested in feathers.
It's been almost a month now that Flo has had the peepers off and she still isn't feather picking, nor are any of the others. While this isn't a controlled experiment, I have seen enough to believe this Forco works. Here's the web site http://forco.com/, and they sell it in selected feed stores around the country. I order it by phone 1-866-383-2458. It costs around $25 for a 5 pound bucket or you can also try the one-pounder for less. It includes shipping.
I'm in no way employed by Forco, by the way, just wanting to pass on a tip on something that seems to work for a very heart-breaking problem almost all of us chicken folk have encountered.
I've written about Flo, my two-year old EE who began her nefarious career of feather picking at the very tender age of three months. At the time, I thought it was a protein deficiency so I fed her canned tuna for weeks. It had no effect on her. By this time she was eight months old, going about her liberating of the feathers of the flock in a determined and frenzied manner.
I decided to obtain pinless peepers, and when they came, I immediately installed a pair on her. They helped, but she adjusted to them to the point that she was still able to pick feathers off any back that was under her beak. I trimmed her beak. It helped a little. Then she reached the point a few months ago where the pinless peepers stopped working all together.
So I tried bumper bits. This device prevents the beak from closing all the way, and it was so cruel, and Flo couldn't eat, I removed it before one day was over. There was nothing left to do but to eat her. No, wait, I'm just kidding. I segregated her. She spent days in a separate enclosure and nights in a separate coop. Additionally, this feather picking problem had spread to four others in the flock, who were all sporting pinless peepers, too.
Around this time, I was over at some friends for dinner and the topic of managing pets with strange fixations came up. These people had great luck with a product called "Forco" in curbing poop eating in dogs. This product is a nutritional supplement for all animals, a cereal based substance full of vitamins and natural intestinal nutrients.
I decided to give it a try on Flo so I ordered some. When it cam, I offered it free choice, one scoop a day, to the entire flock of fifteen. After a few weeks, I removed the peepers from the other four hens, and around week seven, I decided to remove Flo's pinless peepers. Much to my surprise she showed no inclination to pick feathers. Even during the later afternoon, when her feather picking was usually at its most frenzied, she appeared calm and uninterested in feathers.
It's been almost a month now that Flo has had the peepers off and she still isn't feather picking, nor are any of the others. While this isn't a controlled experiment, I have seen enough to believe this Forco works. Here's the web site http://forco.com/, and they sell it in selected feed stores around the country. I order it by phone 1-866-383-2458. It costs around $25 for a 5 pound bucket or you can also try the one-pounder for less. It includes shipping.
I'm in no way employed by Forco, by the way, just wanting to pass on a tip on something that seems to work for a very heart-breaking problem almost all of us chicken folk have encountered.
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