leghorns ruined my rhode islands feathers

[lynviviana]

Can anyone please advise me in what to do regarding fixing damaged feathers? Most of my flock are missing tails or have damaged feathers. I have a ton of leghorns they do damage to their own breed as well as my rhode islands. I feel like the worst owner seeing how damaged they've gotten...

 

[FeatherTay]

Roosters or hens?

 

[Blue Raptor]

Roosters or hens?

maybe roo saddles will discourage picking...

 

[lynviviana]

Roosters or hens?

Both...

 

[NatJ]

If the feathers have been completely pulled out, new ones may grow.

Otherwise, they will just keep looking ratty until the next time the chickens molt. Then they will gradually lose all the old feathers and grow new ones.

Most adult chickens molt in the fall or winter, but they sometimes skip molting their first year, and some molt at odd times for various reasons. Chicks molt several times as they grow.

Of course, unless you change their behavior, they will just do the same thing to the new feathers too.

Things that sometimes help:
--more space
--things they can go around or behind or on top of, to get a bit away from each other
--things to do (dirt or compost or bedding to scratch in, plants to eat, etc)
--fewer roosters
--higher protein feed

Different flocks need different solutions, depending on what is actually causing the problem, and in your case I don't know.

 

[FeatherTay]

Both...

How many roosters do you have? How many hens?

 

[3KillerBs]

How many chickens do you have? What is the rooster-to-hen ratio?

What is the square footage of the coop and of the run?

Do you have plenty of "clutter" in the run -- both to allow lower-status birds to hide from dominant birds and to give the birds something to do other than pick on each other?

What do you feed them and how?

Are these high-production layers who are approaching molt?

Sometimes feather-picking is due to a protein deficiency in the diet.

Sometimes it's a bad habit spawned by boredom.

Sometimes it's an aggressive behavior caused by over-crowding.

Sometimes productive hens approaching molt just look really ratty and worn because their energy has gone into egg production rather than feather maintenance. In fact, old poultry-keeping handbooks tell farmers to cull the pretty birds in the active laying flock because they're the freeloaders who are eating without producing.

 

[lynviviana]

How many roosters do you have? How many hens?

I have 47 hens and 5 roosters

 

[InterestingChickens]

I have 47 hens and 5 roosters

What is the size of their coup and run as @3KillerBs has asked?

 

[lynviviana]

How many chickens do you have? What is the rooster-to-hen ratio?

What is the square footage of the coop and of the run?

Do you have plenty of "clutter" in the run -- both to allow lower-status birds to hide from dominant birds and to give the birds something to do other than pick on each other?

What do you feed them and how?

Are these high-production layers who are approaching molt?

Sometimes feather-picking is due to a protein deficiency in the diet.

Sometimes it's a bad habit spawned by boredom.

Sometimes it's an aggressive behavior caused by over-crowding.

Sometimes productive hens approaching molt just look really ratty and worn because their energy has gone into egg production rather than feather maintenance. In fact, old poultry-keeping handbooks tell farmers to cull the pretty birds in the active laying flock because they're the freeloaders who are eating without producing.

Not sure on square footage of both but I am comfortable with the sizes of both. if anything, the coop could be slighly bigger but they dont spend much time there at during the day. They go in and out as they please. Once the sun goes down i shut the door then wake up earliest i can the next day to let them out. I know for sure once daylight comes those dang leghorns will wanna fight. I provide lots of treats and other things to distract them.