meds for picking

[sherrihargrove]

my girl was getting picked on something terrible so i got some pick-no-more cover up lotion. it looks like pine tar but not as sticky. put it on her tonight and will put her back out in the morning to see how it goes. there is no more red showing so i hope this does the trick til feathers come back in.

 

[dawg53]

my girl was getting picked on something terrible so i got some pick-no-more cover up lotion. it looks like pine tar but not as sticky. put it on her tonight and will put her back out in the morning to see how it goes. there is no more red showing so i hope this does the trick til feathers come back in.

If the Rooster Booster Pick-No-More doesnt work (it didnt for me,) try Vick's VapoRub or Nu-Stock on the affected area.
Time to look at the causes of picking/pecking: Pecking order issue, a wound/injury or disease, not enough space to roost inside the hen house, not enough space in pen/run, boredom, external parasites, nutritional deficiencies.

 

[Michael Apple]

If the Rooster Booster Pick-No-More doesnt work (it didnt for me,) try Vick's VapoRub or Nu-Stock on the affected area.
Time to look at the causes of picking/pecking: Pecking order issue, a wound/injury or disease, not enough space to roost inside the hen house, not enough space in pen/run, boredom, external parasites, nutritional deficiencies.

X2. Too few birds of certain breeds can be a problem too, since a more dominant/aggressive hen is more likely to push it with one particular hen. What breeds do you have, sharrihargrove? I don't believe I asked you that in the other thread you posted on the same subject.

 

[sherrihargrove]

I have slw x2, black australorp x 2, brown sex link x 2 a white chicken and another brown one. No idea on the last 2 good layers though.

 

[FoxyChicken]

I dealt with feather picking last winter and tried just about every product out there. The combo that ended up working best for me was bluekote to cover bare skin and net-tex on remaining feathers. My girls start out by just breaking the feathers off half way, so if I can catch that right away with the net-tex it prevents it from getting to the bare skin stage. I tried the pick-no-more also, but it seemed like they might have actually liked the taste! I think it smells like grape cough syrup. You can get the net-tex off of amazon, just be aware that it ships from the UK so if you're in the US it takes a week or two to arrive.

with all that being said, the sprays and lotions are just a temporary fix until you can get to the reason for the problem. I did all of the things Dawg mentioned. Extended their roost bar, reconfigured my coop to give them more room, I cut back on treats and added a supplement to their food to increase protein and nutrients. My picking has stopped and everybody has molted out with beautiful new feathers. There is hope! Good luck!

 

[dawg53]

I dealt with feather picking last winter and tried just about every product out there. The combo that ended up working best for me was bluekote to cover bare skin and net-tex on remaining feathers. My girls start out by just breaking the feathers off half way, so if I can catch that right away with the net-tex it prevents it from getting to the bare skin stage. I tried the pick-no-more also, but it seemed like they might have actually liked the taste! I think it smells like grape cough syrup. You can get the net-tex off of amazon, just be aware that it ships from the UK so if you're in the US it takes a week or two to arrive.

with all that being said, the sprays and lotions are just a temporary fix until you can get to the reason for the problem. I did all of the things Dawg mentioned. Extended their roost bar, reconfigured my coop to give them more room, I cut back on treats and added a supplement to their food to increase protein and nutrients. My picking has stopped and everybody has molted out with beautiful new feathers. There is hope! Good luck!

You're lucky that you got it under control. Once it gets started, other birds get in on the action and it's ingrained in them forever. Most of the time birds have to be culled...but no one likes hearing that fact.

 

[FoxyChicken]

Yes I do feel very lucky I was able to get a handle on it! The thought of culling did cross my mind, but I only have 5 hens and most of them were guilty of picking to some extent, so I would've ended up with only one or two left. Plus, only having five lets me get attached to each individual... so there's that

. I just wish I knew what actually cured it since I tried so many different things! It started in the middle of winter and seemed to taper off throughout the summer so I think just being able to be outside was a big factor. It was probably a combination of everything though. Now that we're back in the middle of winter I'm definitely paranoid about it starting up again, but so far so good!

 

[dawg53]

Put a mirror in the pen and see if it gets their attention. It usually does until they get used to it.