Daffodil12
In the Brooder
- Jun 24, 2020
- 18
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I have a flock of 12 chickens, and a few months ago, I noticed that several of them had bare, red patches on their backs (near the tail) and on their necks. One hen in particular is quite aggressive, so I put pinless peepers on her a month or two ago, but that doesn't seem to have helped. The girls' feathers haven't grown back. I have 2 young roosters (about 15 weeks old) that I introduced last week, but so far they seem scared of the hens. I don't think they're the issue at this point.
The hens don't really seem bored--they're not free-range, but they have a pen and they pick at the ground all day--but I could be wrong about that. Usually, they'll all be sitting down, and one of them will lean over and peck at another girl's bare patch, and the peck-ee will just sit there and take it. Ack!
Let me know if you have any suggestions for dealing with this! They don't seem hurt (no bleeding), but I'm worried about stress. I've read about chicken saddles, isolation, no-peck ointment, and one article even suggested putting duct tape over the bare patches... Thoughts?
The hens don't really seem bored--they're not free-range, but they have a pen and they pick at the ground all day--but I could be wrong about that. Usually, they'll all be sitting down, and one of them will lean over and peck at another girl's bare patch, and the peck-ee will just sit there and take it. Ack!
Let me know if you have any suggestions for dealing with this! They don't seem hurt (no bleeding), but I'm worried about stress. I've read about chicken saddles, isolation, no-peck ointment, and one article even suggested putting duct tape over the bare patches... Thoughts?