Need Help With A Problem.

[mkrassin]

I just aquired five hens and a rooster. It is starting to get cold in wyoming, and these all but two dont have many feathers on their backs. They are in a insulated temporary coop, I would like to know if their is anything I can do to help then should i apply any thing to help to make them more comfortable. I have a infra red heat
light over their roost and they seem comfortable there. Is there any antibiotics , or anything that i could put in their water to make them more healthy. The hens have
a device in their beaks to keep them from pulling feathers from each other. I might ad that they are year old hens. I just got them yesterday. [email protected]
any help i can get to make sure they are healty thanking you.

 

[chicmom]

Hello! Are they missing back feathers due to mating from the rooster? Or is there a feather plucker in the mix? If the entire feather is gone (no quill remaining), then the feathers will grow back. A little extra protein in their diet will benefit the feather re-growth. Since the rooster is still with them, if you think his mating is the problem, hen saddles actually work great in helping the feathers grow back while also protecting their backs. Roosters can be rough.

Hopefully your temp coop is big enough.....Crowded chickens often peck eachother. If you can let them free range, that's great, or hopefully they have a nice chicken run.

Of course the anti-pecking device in their nostrils (I think they might be pinless peepers) is a great idea.

Then again, they may just be going through a molt. It's hard to tell. Again, some extra protein would really help those feathers grow back.

If you think they might be a little crowded, give them things to peck at.....Hang a cabbage, throw in some cracked corn......Things like that.

Good luck to you,
Sharon

 

[J's Orpingtons]

Hmm... It might be moult...

 

[kari_dawn]

sounds like rooster abuse to me

What kind of chickens are they? Do you know any more history on them? Did they put the pinless peepers on them because there was a feather plucker in the group?

 

[shugaskull]

Give them a variety of fresh healthy veggies to increase there nutrients. It is important to have proper amino acids in there diet for feather production. Also yogurt will help fatten them up and strengthen their egg shells.

 

[so lucky]

If they had the pinless peepers when you got them, you may have just inherited someone else's problem birds. The two things I would look for are history of overcrowding & boredom (previous home) and not enough protein. Ditto on all the previous suggestions. Keem 'em busy, and up the protein. Black oil sunflower seeds (boss) has come down in price a little. That is a good source of protein. Also scrambled eggs, off-brand tuna, left over meaty casserole of just about any kind. There is also chicken feed that is higher in protein.