Naked birds

[jeffery93]

It has been really cold here and my hens haven't been coming out of the coop much, and I haven't been going in much. My son has been taking care of chickens. I went out this moring and was shocked by how naked my girls are. I have a very aggressive feather plucker or they all pluck.
My question is, will this stop when the weather warms up and they go out more or is there something I need to do now. I'm afraid they are going to injure each other and then I will have a problem. By the way the stupid roosters (2 of them) look great!!!

 

[pbjmaker]

Sounds like they are bored and/or need more protein.

 

[jeffery93]

I'll go ahead and give them more protien and see if that helps. What do you think the best protien supplements are? I have heard scrambled eggs, cat food, and others. Not sure where to start.

 

[chicken_angler]

Maybe you should spend a little more time with them? Take them treats and talk to them to calm the feather pickers

Cody!!

 

[jeffery93]

These are actually my sons chickens. He is 13 and does a great job with them. But, he is still young and we are both learning about chickens so I try to help him. I should probably check on them more, but I hate wading through the 2 or more feet of snow we have mantained since Nov. I know I'm a wimp! And he usually tells me if there is a problem.. I'm suprised he didn't say anything! But, we'll fix it.

 

[brian8jr]

Try hanging a cabbage for them to peck at. It sounds like they're bored. My chickens love it.

 

[chicken_angler]

Okay! My chickens are mine too and I'm your sons age! About the protein, check to see if your son has any oyster shell. If not, I would get some from the feed store. It's a great source of calcium for all your birds!

Cody!!

 

[PortageGirl]

a little cat food is fine, but it's not a long term thing, it's a bit salty for them I think, Good for a treat and protein boost though. I don't know what you have in the floor for bedding but by casting a couple handfulls of dry catfood, it give them something to scratch for, good for boredom AND protein... several scrambled or boiled eggs are good too, as well as some cooked oatmeal in the morning, (oats are actually pretty high in protein and they love em) some plain yogurt is good too if your store has a good deal on the large containers... (close to expiration date maybe) I'd vary it but go easy too cause a sudden BIG change in diet can affect badly too. the cabbage on a string thing is fun and even apples on a string... if you do two or three you always seem to get one hen that seems to try to get to ALL of them and it's hilarious!

[edit] Oh, and I forgot to say to check for mites and such... though if it were that the roosters would probably be affected too. Are the roos bothering them too much maybe making them nervous? Maybe your son hasn't noticed or at 13, maybe he's weirded out about telling his [edit DAD!! Sorry. PARENT][]the roos are too interested in the "S" word!

 

[chasitypearl]

my coop ceiling is preety high i was wonding if i could put some cabbage in a container on the floor would that work the same as far as keeping them busy

 

[PortageGirl]

LOL, do whatever you can! the thing about hanging from a string is it occupies them because it's dangling, hanging, bouncing, swinging and gives them entertainment and exercise, distracts them from picking on each other and gives you something to laugh at too!!!

if you can toss some string over a high up rafter, or nail a 'bar' across a corner that you can hang something from that'd work too which will give the same effect,,, or heck!!! even hang something from a perch/roost!!!
I wouldn't leave that there overnight, it'd get pooped all over! but even if none of that will work, any variaty offers distraction and fun for all.

I saw an interesting thing the other day on some TV show that was on .. some wildlife handler had a crane that they entertained by putting crickets in a wiffel ball... the only way the crickets would come out was when the crane 'pecked' at the ball and they shoock out... now, chickens LOVE crickets, but they chase em down in about 2.4 seconds, I have NO idea how they got the crickets INTO the wiffel ball, but I'll bet that once the chooks figured out it was a 'ball-o-crickets' they'd go BONKERS for it!!!!