Molting or pecking

[Chickenmoms]

I have 13 hens no roosters. The run is 10 x12 and coop is 4 x 6 with two roosting shelves and 4 nesting boxes below. Sand and hay checked constantly cleaned coop and run. Every other Saturday diatomaceous earth ash and lime. Every Saturday coop is emptied and scrubbed with water and vinegar. So no mites or other critters I check all constantly when giving them attention
Anyway all of my chickens are missing feathers either from back by tail or neck area. They are also laying eggs normally These are only a couple

 

[sourland]

Space is somewhat limited. Birds are feather plucking/pecking.

 

[Chickenmoms]

Space is somewhat limited. Birds are feather plucking/pecking.

Thank you. I thought 6-7 babies per roosting bar would be enough

 

[sourland]

Roosting space is not the problem. The square footage of the coop is somewhat less than half of what would be needed for that many birds - especially in the winter when dnow is on the ground.

 

[Chickenmoms]

Roosting space is not the problem. The square footage of the coop is somewhat less than half of what would be needed for that many birds - especially in the winter when dnow is

 

[Chickenmoms]

The run is 90% covered. So what you are saying is when they are cold there is not enough room in coop

 

[Cloverfluff]

Would you have the option of free ranging them?

 

[Chickenmoms]

No we have too many wild life here. The run has kept a bear, fox, coyote,turkey, possum and skunk out of the run

 

[Cloverfluff]

A bear!!! That must be a pretty sturdy run. Quick question for you. In the coop, I notice that you have feed bags under the roosting bars. Are they removable for cleaning or do you just wipe them off as needed?

 

[Chickenmoms]

A bear!!! That must be a pretty sturdy run. Quick question for you. In the coop, I notice that you have feed bags under the roosting bars. Are they removable for cleaning or do you just wipe them off as needed?

Oh the coop was made so that I close the door between coop and run. I open both doors and take everything out. And clean with water and vinegar. If it’s raining I can bring everything into the house until everything is dry and ready to go back in. I do a full clean every Saturday and clean every morning to keep mites and stuff away. I know most people don’t clean run every day but I do. I also have a chair that I bring into the run to keep the chickens company