Jerk chicken-- and not the good kind

[sourland]

With feather pecking/plucking separation from the flock rarely cures the bad habit.

We had some success with the pinless peepers. They are basically chicken blinders, so they can't focus in front of them as well, where they would be going to pull the feathers out. Eventually, our Welsummers found a way to get around it, and wouldn't stop picking at the rooster, so we sent them to live at another farm together, but some chickens are completely cured from feather pulling.

Great suggestion. Sometimes, once birds have regrown their feathers, the Pin Less Peepers can be removed and the habit may be broken. Birds must be monitored, and if pecking resumes there are great soup/crock pot recipes for older birds.

 

[Emilou]

About half my flock are complete jerks-- four of eight are pecking at the others constantly, pulling out feathers, and oinking up all the food. They are all the same breed so it took a while to figure out the culprits until I applied some common sense: the fat chickens with all their feathers are the bullies. All the others are skinny and missing many feathers.

Pecking order is one thing, but this is ridiculous. Questions for the group:
- I am currently caring for a sick chicken in a chicken hospital that stays in the covered part of the run. Is this making it worse? She's starting to get better, so I let her out into the garden, etc. She sleeps with the flock which seems to workout fine.
- They have plenty of space per bird, ample access to food and water. Anything else environmental that could be causing a problem?
- This morning we've put the four bullies in chicken time out in the West Wing (farthest part of the run). How long to keep them in?
- Note that Pecky (top of the pecking order) is not with the bullies. She is queen bee but doesn't bother the others. Is that unusual?

Thanks in advance for the advice!

Just curious, what breed are they? Some breeds are nicer personalities in general than others. Some breeds are known to be "victims"...like silkies.
You might need a bigger run...good chickens get up to no good when bored. Throw in and change out stuff for them to think about. A cabbage, a cardboard box, a branch - and change them out if you can't give them more room. Good luck!
PS It seems odd that all four might be short of protein if you are feeding a good layer feed... Feed more protein when molting for sure.

 

[MamaWolf7]

I agree with many of the comments, they need more feeders, waterers and protein.

When I bought my house, chickens came with it. Half of them were bald from their wings to their vents from overcrowding and poor management from the previous owners. I have learned many lessons and now all of my birds are happy and fully feathered.

1. I give my birds meat as an occasional snack, especially during molting season. I find some freezer burned moose, chicken or whatever else, boil it in a small amount of water, put it in the blender and give it to them in a dish. Not only does it help reduce feather pecking, it also helps them regrow their missing feathers. My friend gives them a bit of dog or cat food instead.

2. In the warm months, and especially when introducing new birds I have 4 open waterers and 2-3 feeders well apart from the others. I keep 1 of each in the coop and the rest in the run. Living in the Yukon (100mi from Alaska), we have long very cold winters. Heated open waterers frost up the coop to the point where the door freezes shut. When it is really cold I use a single heated waterer with nipples to avoid the moisture problem.

3. To keep the peace in the winter I offer sources of "entertainment" for the chickens. A xylophone on the coop wall, a mirror for the hens to strut their stuff in front of, the odd head of cabbage, a couple swing perches and a covered area outdoors where the dirt remains dry and dusty year round for dust baths on less cold days.

It took a while (and a few chicken stews) to break the feather pecking (and egg eating) habit, but I now have a happy flock of 25 chickens with only the occasional pecking order dispute.

Best of luck!

 

[3KillerBs]

To keep the peace in the winter I offer sources of "entertainment" for the chickens.

I've found that a straw bales with one tie cut keeps the flock busy anywhere from all day to all week depending on numbers and the quality of the baler that compressed it.

 

[New2theFlock]

Just curious, what breed are they? Some breeds are nicer personalities in general than others. Some breeds are known to be "victims"...like silkies.
You might need a bigger run...good chickens get up to no good when bored. Throw in and change out stuff for them to think about. A cabbage, a cardboard box, a branch - and change them out if you can't give them more room. Good luck!
PS It seems odd that all four might be short of protein if you are feeding a good layer feed... Feed more protein when molting for sure.

Our chickens are Sapphire Gems.

 

[New2theFlock]

I agree with many of the comments, they need more feeders, waterers and protein.

When I bought my house, chickens came with it. Half of them were bald from their wings to their vents from overcrowding and poor management from the previous owners. I have learned many lessons and now all of my birds are happy and fully feathered.

1. I give my birds meat as an occasional snack, especially during molting season. I find some freezer burned moose, chicken or whatever else, boil it in a small amount of water, put it in the blender and give it to them in a dish. Not only does it help reduce feather pecking, it also helps them regrow their missing feathers. My friend gives them a bit of dog or cat food instead.

2. In the warm months, and especially when introducing new birds I have 4 open waterers and 2-3 feeders well apart from the others. I keep 1 of each in the coop and the rest in the run. Living in the Yukon (100mi from Alaska), we have long very cold winters. Heated open waterers frost up the coop to the point where the door freezes shut. When it is really cold I use a single heated waterer with nipples to avoid the moisture problem.

3. To keep the peace in the winter I offer sources of "entertainment" for the chickens. A xylophone on the coop wall, a mirror for the hens to strut their stuff in front of, the odd head of cabbage, a couple swing perches and a covered area outdoors where the dirt remains dry and dusty year round for dust baths on less cold days.

It took a while (and a few chicken stews) to break the feather pecking (and egg eating) habit, but I now have a happy flock of 25 chickens with only the occasional pecking order dispute.

Best of luck!

Thanks, Mama Wolf. Some great ideas for me.

 

[New2theFlock]

With feather pecking/plucking separation from the flock rarely cures the bad habit.

Great suggestion. Sometimes, once birds have regrown their feathers, the Pin Less Peepers can be removed and the habit may be broken. Birds must be monitored, and if pecking resumes there are great soup/crock pot recipes for older birds.

You guys are serious about cooking the bullies? They ARE really fat. . . .

 

[New2theFlock]

What percentage is the protein in their feed?

It has been EggMakers15 from WalMart, but at the advice of this group I have changed to better quality higher protein food: 18% protein organic chickfood from TSC.

 

[New2theFlock]

You guys, we made some changes to the coop and run today, and I appreciate all of your suggestions so much:

- added another feeder and waterer so bullied chickens have options
- added a pallet to the uncovered run so they have new entertainment
- cleaned up the xylophone and put it in new location in hopes they will play
- added an entrance into the uncovered run so it's easier to manage everything in there
- confirmed that original feeder wasn't secretly nasty and moldy inside
- changed food to the highest level of protein we could find (18% protein, fancy organic chic food from TSC)
- made two hiding places for my sweet bullied birds
- cleaned out inside of coop again and cleaned up the perches
- let everyone free range this afternoon while my family and I were working on all the chicken stuff. It worked out just fine, other than pointing a few confused birds back in to the covered run as it started getting dark.

I'm hopeful these changes will really help and will update you guys later in the week. Will add pictures too!

And look for other threads by me because I have two new problems:
1) FloJo (superfast runner) is limping. She doesn't have bumblefoot, and I can't see anything obvious that is wrong w that leg. Side note: she hops on one foot faster than the other girls can run. It's amazing.
2) Pecky (top of pecking order) spit up white, which I read is likely sour crop. We are out of Apple Cider Vinegar, but I'll be adding it to their water as per usual tomorrow.

Why no problems for years and now so many things!?!?! Is it just because they are getting older?

 

[New2theFlock]

Welcome to BYC. Where, in general, are you? Climate matters for many things.



What are the actual dimensions of the coop and run?

The Usual Guidelines

For each adult, standard-sized hen you need:

• 4 square feet in the coop (.37 square meters)
• 10 square feet in the run (.93 square meters),
• 1 linear foot of roost (.3 meters),
• 1/4 of a nest box,
• And 1 square foot (.09 square meters) of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

8 hens

• 32 square feet in the coop. 4'x8' is approaching the limits for a non-walk-in coop even with the access door in the middle. 6'x6' should be walk-in because even the tallest chicken-keeper won't be able to reach the far wall.
• 8 feet of roost
• 80 square feet in the run. 8'x10' is a nice looking number but, remembering the common dimensions of lumber, a roomier 8'x12' is actually easier to build. 6'x14' looks good on paper but would require a lot of weird cuts.
• 8 square feet of ventilation.
• 2-3 nest boxes.

These numbers are *guidelines*, not hard-and-fast *rules* and at, under, or over them doesn't *guarantee* either trouble or being trouble-free, but even moderate crowding increases the likelihood of social problems.

I see in the photos that your run doesn't have much "clutter": https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/

Clutter is important because subordinate chickens show that they accept their superiors' dominance by getting out of the way -- breaking line of sight and giving the top birds their space free and clear.

Also, how many feeding and watering stations do you have? Is it possible for a bird at one feeder/waterer to see the other feeder/waterer and thus guard the resources?

That said, as has been noted above, sometimes feather-picking is improved by switching to a higher-protein feed.

We made some changes today, including another feeder and waterer, more entertainment for the run and new 18% protein feed for chicken. They will get turkey at lunch tomorrow, too. Will send update later in the week.