Input on Pinless Peepers & Aggressive Peckers Please

[Redhds]

Has anyone had any success using these Weilan Pinless Peepers for Chickens Blinders? Our two Black Orpington pullets (8 mos old) have become aggressive peckers, especially after one shy Welsummer. We found Ginger bleeding badly tonight, large piece of skin ripped off her lower backside and clearly sad/upset. She's presently in our warm basement in a large travel pen we use for protected "free-ranging" on our lawn. She has food, water, a cover and a little perch for roosting (which she is on tonight). We cleaned the wound area with warm water, trimmed a few dirty feathers, applied antibiotic ointment and removed her saddle. She was such a cooperative girl. I think she knew we were helping. Everyone got a light-weight saddle to cover their pecked areas last week, along with Blu-Kote spray daily to their sore pecked back areas. That is, everyone except Penny who has all her feathers. We think she's the primary culprit, so Penny may get a pinless blinder tomorrow. We don't want to be cruel, but have read these things work. What's your experience?

For additional context, we have the largest Omlet Pro coop and more than 5 sq ft per bird (8 girls) in the 9' tall x 9' wide enclosed pen. Our pen flooring is construction grade sand and then a space under the coop with wood chips. We offer toys, hanging treat holder, warm fresh water supply even in our CT freezing December temps. We supplement with fresh veggies, herbs or fruits and a bit of scratch (or warm oatmeal with diced apples and cranberries or maybe kale and cuke on really frigid days - sweet or savory they love it). There are also a couple random height stumps, a few big rocks, oval dust bath, two long perches and we "move the furniture" every other day to keep them guessing. These chickens live the life I want - seriously. They were getting along quite well until fall turned cooler and they started laying. They stopped going in at night a month or so ago too, and want to roost in the pen. Since we live with serious predators (bear, bobcat, fox, catamount) we want them inside their coop at night. So now we have to remove them one by one from the perch and guide each to the ramp to go in. Retraining, but it's not working. Do they not want to be cooped up with Penny? What a pain every night now! What's going on? This new coop was built to hold 10 hens (have 8) and has three nesting boxes they love. They're still laying 7-8 beautiful colored eggs a day, even on the freezing, snowy days. How can they not be happy?

Is it my fault that they're bored or spoiled (well yes) or both or... you know better than me. Earlier this month I had spine surgery and haven't been outside to "play" with them yet. My husband is caretaking and they get along fine, he just doesn't sing, sit, hold or hand feed raisin treats, for example. He's busy cleaning the pen twice a day and puts the sides down on the run if the wind is up or rain / snow is in the forecast.

Well, this was way longer, than I intended. Feels like chicken therapy! Thank you for hanging in with me. As you can tell, we are new to the world of raising chickens. It was only a matter of time, before our fun little hobby got real. Grateful for this community. I learn so much. Thanks in advance for your insight and happy holidays!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

People do report good success with the Pinless Peepers. I've not had to use them yet. You do not say what you are feeding, but you do seem to be providing a LOT of extras. I would recommend cutting way back on the treats. Sometimes feather picking can be a result of insufficient protein but it sounds like you only have one doing it. Regardless, it wouldn't hurt to cut back on the treats so they get all possible nutrients from their balanced commercial feed. You might also want to increase their protein to 20% if you are feeding 16% layer pellets.. you might try an all-flock or grower formula. Is your coop 40 sq ft (8' x 5', LxW ?) or bigger?

 

[rosemarythyme]

BigBlueHen53 asked about coop space, but you also need to assess your run space, which you said is 9 long x 9 tall but you didn't include how wide it is. If it's truly 5 sq ft per bird in run, that is half of the recommended minimum on here for run space. In addition I would recommend that a run be no narrower than 6' due to chickens having a personal bubble that can extend to 6' in radius.

You do mention having some clutter in there which always helps, but placement matters. How many feeders do you have, and is there ample clutter in between each feeder to break line of sight? For 8 birds I'd recommend 2-3 feed options and yes, I also agree that it sounds like their diet is a little treat heavy which can throw off their protein intake.

I know what you were asking about was the peepers, and supposedly they do help but they're not a long term solution if the above mentioned issues are the problem.

 

[Redhds]

Thank you for your helpful reply. My husband corrected me - pen floor is 13 sq ft per chicken. The pen is not cluttered - there are spaces for variety and we mix it up. Some prefer roosting, others nap in the chips back under coop and others forage in the sand. Sometimes they all sit in a row on the big perch and enjoy sunshine.

We have a Grandpa feeder under the coop and they learned quickly when young to take turns / share. No issues there. We transitioned to Dufour organic layer pellets once they started laying in September and offer fresh oyster shells along with their crushed shells.

We do supplement with fresh diced veggies, fruit or herbs from our garden (last summer) and the store, but only a little of one each day since they cannot safely free range here. If it sounded like they have a big daily buffet that’s not so! Sorry. I’ll back off on raisins to just when grandkids visit, reduce other fresh treats to teaspoon per hen and only a little oatmeal when it’s hovering around 10 degrees or lower. My research said they need more protein in the winter, but they control their intake with the Grandpa feeder.

I’m still concerned about rough pecking. It’s not just one, but Penny is the worst. The saddles are helping some. Ginger did okay last night in our basement “hospital” pen. She roosted on a perch. Wound seems to be contained and no bleeding. Will clean and reapply antibiotic ointment today. We’re reluctantly prepared to cull the flock if there’s further signs of canabalism. Thanks again to all who are sharing thoughts!

 

[Mrs. K]

Really being eaten alive is kind of cruel. Put the painless peepers on everyone except the victim. It is not cruel to prevent pecking as described.

Or the other solution is to cull down the flock numbers. Your birds are telling you there is not enough room.

I would try the peepers first, if that doesn’t work, I would remove the three worst bullies. Leave the peepers on until the end of January.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Thank you for your helpful reply. My husband corrected me - pen floor is 13 sq ft per chicken. The pen is not cluttered - there are spaces for variety and we mix it up.

We have a Grandpa feeder under the coop and they learned quickly when young to take turns / share. No issues there.

Glad the run is not nearly as small as first described, as it would be difficult to find a solution without expansion or flock reduction in that case!

I'd try the peepers as Mrs. K suggested but I'd also think about adding another feeder away from the first. It doesn't have to be a treadle feeder - like I have 5 feeders out first thing in the morning and 4 of them are cat food bowls or ramekins... the birds finish those off first and by then aren't as hungry so they are fine with sharing 1 big feeder in the latter part of the day. Younger birds don't have as much of a pecking order so sharing is no issue. As they get older and hormones kick in, birds that used to get along might not tolerate one another like they used to, so having options helps reduce some of the tension around resources like food.

 

[Redhds]

Thanks so much for your support. Will give it a try.

 

[Redhds]

Really being eaten alive is kind of cruel. Put the painless peepers on everyone except the victim. It is not cruel to prevent pecking as described.

Or the other solution is to cull down the flock numbers. Your birds are telling you there is not enough room.

I would try the peepers first, if that doesn’t work, I would remove the three worst bullies. Leave the peepers on until the end of January.

Spot on Mrs K! We want to be peace makers and keepers. Peepers are now in place. I also have a friend lined up who will take Penny if need be. She has a rooster so Penny will learn something new!

Update on Ginger - pleased after only 24 hours of treatment and gentle care in her hospital pen downstairs she’s doing much better. Her wound is quickly healing. She talked with me, ate, drank, scratched around and even laid a lovely blue egg tonight. She’ll have another calm day inside tomorrow (snow day). Then we’ll may bring her best friend Jilly Bean in to visit beside her for a bit. One day at a time here! Value your perspective… much appreciated.