"Picked On Chickens'

[danstanick]

I have a couple of chickens that seem to be picked on by the others. They have all been raised from chicks at the same time (they are now 11 months old). The chickens have all the feathers from the back of their neck picked off. I tried separating them, then putting them back together, but this doesn't seem to do the job. Do I have a rooster in the hen house? I'm not up-to-date on chicken behavior, so I hope I'm not asking a stupid question. This is only happening to 2 or 3 chickens out of a flock of 23. Any ideas? Thanks!

 

[BorneHomestead]

do you free range your birds? i ask to make sure if they are kept enclosed that they have enough room to roam around without becoming bored as that can start feather picking. also parasites could be an issue as well is poor nutrition. if removing the ones being pecked does not help the situation try removing the ones doing the most picking for a week and then add them back to see if that helps. sometimes changing up the pecking order can be helpful. I would also recommend that the ones with feather loss if they are bleeding to definitely remove them from the rest until they are healed as that can cause cannibalism.

 

[Ramblin Rooster]

most likely hens lower on the pecking order. you could have a rooster, but I think you would notice! I also doubt roosters would pull out a lot of neck feathers, you would notice it more in the back. can you post a couple pictures?

Hope I could help!