My chicken is missing feathers! Please help!

[KobyChickens]

I have Easter Egger chickens and am relatively new to this adventure. Two of my chickens are missing feather near their tails. It seems there is also some irritation. I did see one picking at herself, the other not. And The one picking at herself has become a bit more aggressive. Could she be bothering the other one?

I did spray them both with Blue Kote to try to keep others away from them.

Any advice would be welcomed. Thanks so much! I am attaching 2 pictures of the non-aggressive girl.

 

[QueenMisha]

This is most likely feather picking. Feather picking can have several causes but the most common include crowding, stress, and protein deficiency. I'd recommend taking a look at your bird's housing, environment, and diet to determine if any of those might be the cause. In some cases it's also just a matter of one chicken being a big old bully. The treatment for feather picking includes regular application of an anti-picking solutions to the picked-out birds, and determining who is doing the bulk of the picking, and putting them in solitary confinement (out of sight of the flock) for 1-2 weeks.

 

[KobyChickens]

Ok, thanks for this advice!

If i remove the one chicken for one to two weeks, will she re-integrate ok with the others after? I know that it is hard to introduce ew chickens, but not sure if it is the same when they have been separated?

 

[KobyChickens]

And is Blue Kote considered an anti picking solution? Or is there something else i should use?

 

[Noobchick]

Do you have any roosters?

 

[QueenMisha]

Ok, thanks for this advice!

If i remove the one chicken for one to two weeks, will she re-integrate ok with the others after? I know that it is hard to introduce ew chickens, but not sure if it is the same when they have been separated?

She will likely be at the bottom point of the pecking order. This is the purpose of the separation. Once she is returned, she will have lost her place in the flock and will no longer be able to pick at other birds. You should not take any precautions when reintroducing, just dump her right into the pen midday.

And is Blue Kote considered an anti picking solution? Or is there something else i should use?

BluKote is fine, lots of people use it. Personally I prefer Pick-No-More as it doesn't have as harsh of ingredients.

Also, @Noobchick brings up something I forgot to ask, do you have roosters? This looks like feather picking to me, but if you have cockerels in your flock, it could also be due to mating wear.

 

[KobyChickens]

Thank you so much for all this help. No I don't have any roosters.
I think I am going to try expanding their run area also.