Painless peepers... Help!

L8eybugzz

In the Brooder
May 20, 2018
39
34
44
Ontario Canada
I have a naughty chicken that has just started laying but is now pulling out the feathers of my chicken on the bottom of the flock. I have 4 urban chickens. I ordered some painless peepers online and got them in the mail yesterday. My sister and I attempted to apply them today but my heart broke and I had to take it off.
Someone please help me and convince me that these are not hurting her. Her breathing was normal and she got very quiet. ( probably normal right? ) I just feel like the prongs that go in her nostrils are too close together and are pinching her inside.
Am I over reacting?
Are they humane and really painless?
She is a big bully to the other chicken and would like to stop her but I am afraid I am somehow applying it wrong or they are the wrong ones or something and I am hurting her.
My sister says I am over reacting. I wanted more experienced opinions.
Help!
 
I've never used them, and never would so on that score I'm no help whatsoever.

I'd be more inclined to try and address the root cause of the feather pecking. This link may be helpful - Feather pecking

It could be that your new layer has simply lost the plot and she may continue to be a feather pecker. In such cases I would remove her from the flock.

I'm sure others will be along soon to share their experience with the peepers.
 
how much room do they have, if they have space the others can get away from the one pecking. maybe she is lacking in some vitamins, is she eating the feathers. I definitely would not use the peepers, but that is my personal opinion. good luck.
 
There are 4 of them. They are about 22 weeks old. We raised them from day old chicks together.
Their coop is 4ftx4ft
Their run is 7ftx9ft but they roam the backyard all day when we are home. (My sister is currently home almost every day).
The Orpington is the one plucking feathers and she started when she began to lay. She is currently the only one laying. We believe most of the plucking is happening at night. There is plenty of room for them all but they all perch on the end of a roost, squished against eachother.
The one loosing the feathers is an olive egger and is not afraid of her and does not run from her. She Will make a noise and move slightly but does not appear to be afraid. We have checked her for mites and fleas and have treated her both on feathers and consuming DE just to be safe.
We believe we were given the wrong feed a little while back and the olive egger wasn't eating and we believe began to loose weight or at least not grow like the rest. We tossed That food and got them grower feed ( what we thought we had Origionally) She is eating again and growing. She acts like the rest of them.
They have oyster shells on demand. I have never seen the Orpington eat any feathers. She is a sweet bird other than the plucking of feathers.
 
I put the pinless peepers on a bully who then wore them without incident for many months. She didn't like the visual obstruction at first, but it didn't seem to hurt her physically and she got used to it. She could eat, forage, drink, roost, etc. She had caused bloody wounds on 3 different birds, and so she had to either go to freezer camp or wear the peepers. The bullying STOPPED. Last month, the peepers looked really dirty/moldy, with buildup around where they go into her nostrils (this is after months of wearing them) and she had begun shaking her head a lot so I removed them. She did not go back to bullying and is well behaved now.
btw my auto correct changed pinless to painless, then to pines.....
peepers.jpg
 
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There are 4 of them. They are about 22 weeks old. We raised them from day old chicks together.
Their coop is 4ftx4ft
Their run is 7ftx9ft but they roam the backyard all day when we are home. (My sister is currently home almost every day).
The Orpington is the one plucking feathers and she started when she began to lay. She is currently the only one laying. We believe most of the plucking is happening at night. There is plenty of room for them all but they all perch on the end of a roost, squished against eachother.
The one loosing the feathers is an olive egger and is not afraid of her and does not run from her. She Will make a noise and move slightly but does not appear to be afraid. We have checked her for mites and fleas and have treated her both on feathers and consuming DE just to be safe.
We believe we were given the wrong feed a little while back and the olive egger wasn't eating and we believe began to loose weight or at least not grow like the rest. We tossed That food and got them grower feed ( what we thought we had Origionally) She is eating again and growing. She acts like the rest of them.
They have oyster shells on demand. I have never seen the Orpington eat any feathers. She is a sweet bird other than the plucking of feathers.
You're not alone on this I have same issue but it's my RIR pecking the other two hens.
 

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