My Bareback Chickens!!! Help!!!

[rungirl]

Pinless Peepers! Buy them on eggcartons.com. I put them on my Buff Orpington hens because they are notorious feather pickers. They do it when they are bored and penned up, like last winter. I don't have the problem when they are outside free ranging, but it happened again at fair when they were in the pen for a week on display.

Definitely up the protein also. I feed them meat leftover from dinner. They LOVE meat and it's good for them. I've even cooked up a pound of ground beef that was getting old and needed to be used quickly. They devoured it and may just be a coincidence but it seems to boost my egg production when I do that.

For the soft shells, try smashing up your used eggshells and put it in their run to scratch through. You can also offer supplimental oyster shell for calcium.

Lisa

 

[farmgirlz]

Well... the BluKote seems to have really helped. About half have some feathers coming in. It's taken a while, but there is some improvement. Unfortunately, I still don't think it will be in time for winter....

But they aren't my favorite hens anyway. And they're pickin' on my pullets, so I fear for they young safety.

I had pulled two of the Wyandotes out of the coop because they're bullies, but it was a pain keeping a separate pen cleaned and the feeder full, so I put them back in with the others yesterday. Apparently, they didn't learn their lesson, cause they're back at it, pickin' on the little kids on the playground again.

 

[farmgirlz]

Quote:
That cracks me up..."and have been tempted to use it on skinned knees but the kids refuse...lol"

I know the chickens don't care for it, and sometimes I end up spraying more of it on me than them.

 

[stoopid]

Instead of the chicken saddles, I have tried the doggie shirts from the clearance rack at the big discount stores. That way, you know if she is a candidate for the investment of the saddle, and you don't have to wait for UPS.

 

[farmgirlz]

I didn't think of that. Good call!

 

[stoopid]

Yeah, I got a whole bunch of them, just try to avoid the kind with sleeves. And once one of my girls came home without her dress on....I still wonder what happened that day!

 

[farmgirlz]

Okay, so I finally have some feathers coming back in! YAY. The blukote really seems to have helped.

I sat out and watched them this weekend for quite a while and for the first time saw them pecking at each other. So I guess I can't put off the beak cutting any longer. I have the general idea, but how do I do it?...

 

[boogiedog]

Pinless peepers are cheap, easy to put on (a two-person/4-handed job) and really don't seem to bother them (after the first initial moments of humiliation). I had butt-feather pickers and now I also have dominant hens mounting others. My two orps seem to love mounting my little silkies, who just squat and wait to get flattened. I ended up buying aprons on Ebay - I got 5 bantam aprons for $13, including shipping. They work like a charm!