Lots of pecking on backs!!!!

[emmyabbyanny]

Two of my chickens one barred rock and one ??? have large bare spots on their backs, quite raw but not bloody yet. I read on the site that pine tar would help. Went to tractor supply and the guy gave me ichthammol dressing said that would work. Well I have been putting it on them everyday and today I watched as they both started eating it off their backs. I am mad that I just spent $14 on something that did not work and my girls still have bare backs!! I noticed that my ??? chicken has lost lots of feathers in the nesting box. (I have 3 boxes for 8 chickens but they all prefer only one) HELP!!!!

 

[ChickenMama18]

I am a newbie to all this but someone on this site recommended Pine Tar to me and it worked for us. It's nasty stuff however...you'll want to use gloves to put it on. You're bird will be a bit funny looking for a while. The stuff doesn't come off. Good luck!

 

[emmyabbyanny]

The guy at the store told me it was pine tar. I assumed this was just another name for it.

 

[jenni2142]

Bare backs are normally from a rooster, you didn't say if you had one in with them. to protect the back how about saddles? someone here uses duct tape, it is easy and most people have it on hand. You mentioned feathers in nesting box, mine plucked their abdomen to line nest right before they went broody.

 

[emmyabbyanny]

I have one rooster in with them. but it is only 2 of 8 that have bare backs. What would I do with the duck tape? And would they be broody in the middle of winter? It has been below zero here.

 

[chookchick]

The two with bare backs are the rooster's favorites! You need to get some chicken saddles on them (do a search on here for "chicken saddles"), or separate the roo out for a while to give them a break. As jenni says, feathers in the nest box are broody signs, but they probably came out of it.

 

[jenni2142]

I saw the duct tape saddles somewhere here so you can search for it, I think it was just strips across the back and it falls off after new feathers come in. I bought saddles for 2 of mine from hen saver and they are great but they take some time to ship. they are well worth it though, I got the ones that also protect the tops of their wings. If you can sew you could make your own, I think there are patterns on here somewhere.

 

[Dr.Doorlock]

Each time I read about this problem I want to tell of my success with Pinless Peepers. These are blinders which have soft prongs to attach them to the guilty peckers beak. They try to shake them off for a few minutes and then just give up and accept them. They do not hurt and they simply prevent the pecking chicken from seeing in front of them. They cannot see to peck except downward for food or to each side for dodging other birds.

Take a look at my site and see how much fun I had while my girls got out of the pecking habit. Email me if you have questions.