Picking, Picking, PICKING!!!

[Lord-D]

My chickens have been picking on each other for a good month now. At first I thought it was because I had two roosters and only 13-14 hens. After a hawk killed a rooster, now I have a rooster and twelve hens. The ratio is right, but the problem continues. I've applied Blue-Kote to the wounds, and pine tar over that every few days. Still got the problem, and it's getting worse. I've had to keep them in the coop and a 200 square foot inner run until I can cover the rest of the run because of my hawk problem. The egg shells are still very hard and high quality. I'm free-feeding Feather Fixer and ground-up eggshells to help with this. Out of 12 hens, 10 have been picked, and 3 have backs that are mostly bare. The pine tar doesn't seem to discourage them at all. l read a response on this forum from someone who actually duct-taped the bird's backs. I'm getting ready to go out to the coop some night with a flashlight and a roll of Gorilla tape!

Anybody know any other solutions? Are they just bored at this point, or is there another problem? What health risks come with this intense picking?

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

I think they are bored I would try putting some roost logs and a dust bathing area put the logs upright they like to hop on top of them and I like to have a compost box in my run and they spend the entire day in in digging trew the scraps o and they have a swing that they like

 

[Ket004]

Ugh, I went through this last year and it was horrible. Every time they started to grow back someone would pick them out.

I BlueKoted and rooster boostered every day.. and I finally bought them all saddles to cover the bald patches. When the weather started getting warmer they eventually stopped, but the feathers didn't grow back until they went through a molt in fall. I was embarrassed when people saw them!

One thing I would definitely do though is dust them for mites. I now believe that that was an underlying cause.

 

[Lord-D]

Ket004, you have some interesting points. Any particular mite dust you would recommend? Would mites cause small pin-size bloody spots, or is that more likely to be from pecking/spurs? I looked up chicken saddles - I actually had a similar idea on my own. Since the whole reason I'm doing this is to be cheap, I think I'll make mine rather than pay $9 each. Do you think jeans fabric would be sturdy enough? If not, what about leather? Does anybody know if there are patterns online for chicken saddles/aprons?

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

I would go with the jeans fabric not the leather the leather would just get all worn and thin over time til there feathers grow back

 

[Lord-D]

Actually, I ended up ordering some. Chickenarmor.com had 10-packs for $15, and they even have eyes on the back that are supposed to disturb hawks. I figured I couldn't beat that price, so I dropped $30 and got enough for my hens plus a few spares. If figured my labor time is worth something too. If they fall apart or aren't as durable as I'd like, at least I've got a pattern I can use, and a temporary solution til I get around to making my own.

 

[yochickiemomma]

This is Fruit loops w her saddle on. She lost all of her lower back feathers from a molt. I suggest putting them on after dark they adapt to them better.

 

[yochickiemomma]

I also have another hen rocking a saddle and I think she lost her feathers due to someone else picking them. I haven't had any issues since I put the saddle on her and her feathers are growing back.

 

[Lord-D]

Good point about working with them after dark. I do that a lot. I work night shift, so if I get home at 4am it's the perfect time because everybody is sleepy. I get very little cooperation from the birds during the day and it takes two people to catch them. At night, I can walk in the coop and just pick them up with only a little bit of fussing and flapping.