Pecking her neck

[Cnavidi]

One of my girls is pecking the feathers off of the others neck. I have not seen her do it, but I cannot figure out what else it could be. When the large white one was brooding the others feathers started coming back. I have checked for mites and even treated her with DE but that has not helped. I need suggestions. She does not seem bothered by it, and continues to lay eggs regularly, but this has been going on for at least 6 months and she looks so bad.

 

[thebanthams]

How much space do you have in the coop? hens doing that because they are bullies. I had to seperate her from them and it got better. ( I have 2 coops) and fenced pens

 

[Cnavidi]

The coop is large enough for 4 and I have two. Do I have to keep them separate always, or if I separate them for some time will that stop her?

 

[PoultryPedia]

I had a friend whose hens were always bare on various parts of their body. I never did figure out the cause of that. They had a normal layer diet, so should have had enough protein for good feather growth, & only 1 rooster for lots of hens. The hens did seem unhappy, frightened & quarrelsome, so they may have been pulling each others' feathers?? However, the bare patches seemed pretty uniform on both side of their bodies, & I'm thinking they'd be more random if they were from plucking??

With you only having two hens & plenty of space, it would seem not very likely one hen would attack another that much. Have you seen the one hen act really rough toward the other regularly?

All that said, I only have two hens & when a few months ago they started laying after a long period of infertility from illness, their hormones started raging like crazy. They fought over who was supposed to be my rooster's favorite hen.

They are Ameraucanas, & the hens pulled each others muffs & beards out. But the problem was very easy to identify--You could see & hear them fighting.
(They did settle down after a few days, especially as the illness took back over their reproductive systems & they stopped laying.)

 

[Cnavidi]

I have never seen them pick on each other, the large Americana is a bit of a bully. However, have not seen her pick on the other. The other does seem to be missing feathers on her belly. Today she fell in the pool, i retrieved her and towel dried her. Put A&D ointment on her neck and a bit of Vicks on her back. The nights are still warm her in San Diego so I hope she will be ok. Goodness me these girls.

 

[PoultryPedia]

LOL! It sounds like you are a caring, good chicken mum!