Hello everybody -
I've got 10 pullets (8 mo. old) living in a 8'x8' coop with a 16' x 24' run...they are a mix of barred rocks, dels., orpingtons and a rir. They are let out in the run every day. In the last couple weeks I've gone from 5-6 eggs a day to 1-2 a day (sometimes none). And at first, there was 1 girl getting her neck feathers picked, then a few days later another. Now today I notice a third missing some neck feathers. My wife thinks she saw a barred rock picking another hen while it was in the nesting box...standing on the rail outside of the box and reaching in and picking at the sitting hen. I have never seen that happen, nor have we ever noticed any picking while we have been at the coop/run. But SOMEBODY is doing it!....They are eating layena crumbles with some treats once in a while (sunflower seeds)...and table scraps sometimes.
Here are a couple things that have happened at about the same time as the egg drop off and the start of neck feather picking:
- added a poop board under the roost.
- weather got cold
- they finally got the grass in the run all gone...now bare dirt.
- the garden got cleaned off....not as much garden scraps to feed them.
So my questions: Will a hen pick one in the nesting box?.....if so, is there a particular reason?....does any of the things that I mentioned have anything to do with it?.....is it likley one bird doing the pecking?...(maybe just cull her?).....Does the drop off in eggs have anything to do with the neck feather picking? and.....What can I do?!?
THANKS!
Moderators - If this should be moved somewhere else, feel free.
I've got 10 pullets (8 mo. old) living in a 8'x8' coop with a 16' x 24' run...they are a mix of barred rocks, dels., orpingtons and a rir. They are let out in the run every day. In the last couple weeks I've gone from 5-6 eggs a day to 1-2 a day (sometimes none). And at first, there was 1 girl getting her neck feathers picked, then a few days later another. Now today I notice a third missing some neck feathers. My wife thinks she saw a barred rock picking another hen while it was in the nesting box...standing on the rail outside of the box and reaching in and picking at the sitting hen. I have never seen that happen, nor have we ever noticed any picking while we have been at the coop/run. But SOMEBODY is doing it!....They are eating layena crumbles with some treats once in a while (sunflower seeds)...and table scraps sometimes.
Here are a couple things that have happened at about the same time as the egg drop off and the start of neck feather picking:
- added a poop board under the roost.
- weather got cold
- they finally got the grass in the run all gone...now bare dirt.
- the garden got cleaned off....not as much garden scraps to feed them.
So my questions: Will a hen pick one in the nesting box?.....if so, is there a particular reason?....does any of the things that I mentioned have anything to do with it?.....is it likley one bird doing the pecking?...(maybe just cull her?).....Does the drop off in eggs have anything to do with the neck feather picking? and.....What can I do?!?
THANKS!
Moderators - If this should be moved somewhere else, feel free.