Issues with eating and drinking with peepers on?

[Chickenman MAN]

It's their nature though, right? Do you have very aggressive birds?

Well the thing is yes... chickens do naturally have a pecking order. However, over-aggressive pecking or fighting leads to drawn blood and loss of feathers. My chooks aren't particularly aggressive however, they are ex-bats and we are going into winter. They don't have all of their feathers yet and them being pecked out isn't helping them regrow them. They are more of a retraining method. Sometimes the chook just gets used to feather pecking. If she can't peck for a while, once they are off she may not attempt it again. It just leads to a more harmonious flock often times.

 

[Cee]

It's their nature though, right? Do you have very aggressive birds?

Sometimes painless peepers really help to train and stop a bully. It was the last step in a series of interventions. I was tired of seeing my other girls with bald heads, being bumped out of nest boxes, blocked from eating, drinking, and the whole flock unhappy. I didn't want to lose the eggs the bully was laying but if the peepers didn't work, my next step would have been to cull her. I didn't have to, they worked. Today everybody is so less stressed out. Including me!

 

[Trisseh]

They’re like the quiet wean flappers for calves. it just blocks them from performing a specific behaviour and retrains their brain.

 

[Chickenman MAN]

Sometimes painless peepers really help to train and stop a bully. It was the last step in a series of interventions. I was tired of seeing my other girls with bald heads, being bumped out of nest boxes, blocked from eating, drinking, and the whole flock unhappy. I didn't want to lose the eggs the bully was laying but if the peepers didn't work, my next step would have been to cull her. I didn't have to, they worked. Today everybody is so less stressed out. Including me!

Nooo, noo! Pinless not painless xD

 

[Jenwisp]

Thank you for the information, guys!

I also realized I mistook that image with the 3 hens wearing them for yours, @Cee

 

[Jenwisp]

And I meant you @Chickenman MAN . I thought that was a pic of your birds

 

[Chickenman MAN]

And I meant you @Chickenman MAN . I thought that was a pic of your birds

Haha no. My birds aren't that feathered yet!

 

[Cee]

Nooo, noo! Pinless not painless xD

STUPID AUTO CORRECT GAH!!!

 

[azygous]

Pinless peepers are used to counter cannbalism in flocks. They call them "pinless" peepers because there is a type of peepers that are metal and have a pin that goes through one nare to the other and are secured so they can't fall off. It doesn't hurt the chicken since there is no septum in chickens.

Pinless peepers are plastic and are flexible with prongs instead of pins. They are installed using snap ring pliers which work opposite of regular pliers and hold the peeper prongs apart to slip into the nares.

There is an adjustment period to learn to see with the peepers blocking forward vision. Most chickens adjust within minutes to the peepers, but some have more trouble. It can help to ease this transition with treats on the ground which can help the chicken to focus downward to find the food. The treats soothe the stress of this adjustment.

Even if the chickens adjust readily to wearing peepers, some waterers have a tray too narrow for the chicken to navigate wearing peepers which can hit on the tank and not permit the beak to dip into the tray. Some feeders as well can be too narrow to accommodate peeper wearing chickens. You will need to observe and correct these issues if you see it happening by providing a more suitable feeder and watering device. I've found that nipple waterers are very difficult for peeper wearing chickens to see and use effectively. A open water bowl usually solves the problem. A dog dish will solve the feeder issue.

 

[Chickenman MAN]

Pinless peepers are used to counter cannbalism in flocks. They call them "pinless" peepers because there is a type of peepers that are metal and have a pin that goes through one nare to the other and are secured so they can't fall off. It doesn't hurt the chicken since there is no septum in chickens.

Pinless peepers are plastic and are flexible with prongs instead of pins. They are installed using snap ring pliers which work opposite of regular pliers and hold the peeper prongs apart to slip into the nares.

There is an adjustment period to learn to see with the peepers blocking forward vision. Most chickens adjust within minutes to the peepers, but some have more trouble. It can help to ease this transition with treats on the ground which can help the chicken to focus downward to find the food. The treats soothe the stress of this adjustment.
Thanks for this! Will keep it in mind