pecking problem

Daffodil12

In the Brooder
Jun 24, 2020
18
16
26
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?
 
Increasing protein % in their feed can help, as can adding things for them to interact with and "play" with in the run, such as obstacles they can climb and jump onto and run through (also gives the picked on birds a place to hide if they need it), or piles of organic matter to dig through.
 
Are there supplements you can add to their food to increase the protein content? I get layer pellets from the feed store.
 
You can switch to or mix in a higher protein % feed (often grower or starter will have more than layer), or supplement via meat scraps, a little bit of cat food, canned unsalted fish, bugs.
 
The girls' feathers haven't grown back.
They won't until they molt.
How old are these birds?

I've read about chicken saddles, isolation, no-peck ointment, and one article even suggested putting duct tape over the bare patches... Thoughts?
Oh geezzzz, duct tape!! SMH.
Saddles might help.

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.
This is not too abnormal, probably bother us much more than them.
If there's no chasing and pinning down associated, I'd not worry about it.
 
They're just over 2 years old now. (good, I'm not crazy, the duct tape really did sound awful!)
 
They won't until they molt.
How old are these birds?

Oh geezzzz, duct tape!! SMH.
Saddles might help.

This is not too abnormal, probably bother us much more than them.
If there's no chasing and pinning down associated, I'd not worry about it.
And if they ARE stalking, chasing, pinning down? That's what I've got going on right now.
 

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