Multiple issues at once - stool and feathers

[Malkaris]

Okay, so I had one issue and by the time I got my pics ready etc I now have multiple issues I wanted to post about...
...
First, I wanted to check and see whether this is "coral capping" that I'm seeing; is it some blood or is it normal? I searched the poo posts and this forum for other pics and I'm still not positive. I've only seen it on the tray under their roost sometimes.

I thought it would be too cold for coccidiosis to be much of an issue right now? Temperature has been ranging from around 26°-0° F. Rarely hits the low 30°s.

I let them out into the run around noon, or once it hits around 20°F/-6°C for a few hours. Unless it's storming they'd rather be out (5 hens, 4x7 ext ft coop).

I've recently treated them for coccidiosis and they've had 2 doses of dewormer with about 10 days in between. They weren't laying very much so any withdrawal period wasn't a big deal. A while after treatment I found some electrolyte + vitamin powder and added that to their water for a boost (full one day, 1/2 the next). They've all technically been acting normally - laying 3-5 eggs per day, active, etc... it was mostly the laying and they'd never been dewormed before.

Then yesterday, I thought I saw some feather picking for a couple minutes through the window. Today, I realized... I probably did. The only ones seem to be my 2 brown hens:

I read that's usually stress or a protein deficiency. They seem normal, but it's like someone is clipping the tips off their feathers.

Hens have access to 17% crumble and 20% pellets as they want. They get some treats but they're outside in the cold and I've been hiding treats in straw or hanging them (some scratch, hulled saff/sun seeds etc.) more for an activity than to be a main part of their nutrition.

I should note, in spite of covering / putting out of reach etc. they did get into some reflective insulation I used for the coldest nights but I believe I'd dealt with that for the future.

 

[coach723]

Droppings look pretty normal. If you ever see blood in droppings there is usually no doubt.
That area of the back getting feather damage is often rooster damage from mounting. If you are sure that you don't have a roo, then sometimes a dominant hen will do mounting behavior. Otherwise it's likely feather picking. More often feather picking is caused by boredom or overcrowding. Low protein can contribute, but is a less common cause. Even one dominant bird can make 'recommended' minimum space too small, so the behavior of the birds is more important than measurements on paper. Pictures of your set up for housing and run, with measurements, might help in seeing if that might be the case. When birds are kept in for inclement weather or other reasons, then they need even more space.

 

[Malkaris]

Droppings look pretty normal. If you ever see blood in droppings there is usually no doubt.
That area of the back getting feather damage is often rooster damage from mounting. If you are sure that you don't have a roo, then sometimes a dominant hen will do mounting behavior. Otherwise it's likely feather picking. More often feather picking is caused by boredom or overcrowding. Low protein can contribute, but is a less common cause. Even one dominant bird can make 'recommended' minimum space too small, so the behavior of the birds is more important than measurements on paper. Pictures of your set up for housing and run, with measurements, might help in seeing if that might be the case. When birds are kept in for inclement weather or other reasons, then they need even more space.

Alright, I'll stop fretting about the droppings. I thought maybe the brown was dried blood, but now that you mention it, when they had coccidiosis the blood in the stool was red and obvious.

Definitely, positively no rooster - he went back from whence he came, and I've gotten 5 eggs per day (all different):

I haven't seen a hen exhibiting that behaviour, just a couple of hierarchical disputes and the like, and what appeared to be a squabble over a treat over the last few months. A couple aren't exactly friends with each other. But what I saw yesterday looked like when one gets out of the dust bath and sometimes they pick bits off each other. The coop floor has some feathers from each bird: black, brown, and gray. ( I hope they're not getting too warm at times.)

But today specifically I realized something was undeniably up - even from the time I closed the coop door for the night til I went back out to finish up (an hour or less) someone had pulled a bunch of feathers out of Sparrow's neck. When I gathered them up a couple of other hens tried to eat them.

For tonight, here's the footprint of the coop and run (for a small flock). It's almost to scale, and the coop is off the ground so the hens can go under it too.

* red circles are hanging feeder and heated horizontal nipple waterer.

 

[Malkaris]

I made some modifications, and I took some pics I need to put on this device, but even free ranging into the whole wide world it's been getting worse. First with one chicken, then another, now a third. I caught my LO doing it.