Hi I am fifteen years old and this is my first 'batch' of chickens ever, they are 9 months old and this is their first winter. My family has never owned chickens before but many neighbors do. I have done very extensive research on chickens before i got them, but apparently not enough.
I have one hen who is constantly plucking and pulling and pecking out feathers of the other hens , then eating them, and they are getting hurt. They have bare (sometimes bloody) patches at the base of their tail, one down their neck completely and all have bare butts. I do not know what to do and through more research i purchased blue-kote from the local feed store and applied it on the bare areas. It is only the second day of the blue-kote treatment and I have still noticed the hen picking on the other girls in the same spots. For tonight, I have her in a separate dog crate inside the coop just to give the other girls a break. Should I continue the separation? for how long? Is blue-kote the right thing? Should I look to re-home the hen, but would another take up the same job? Please! I really need help and I am so sad to have this happening because I just want all my birds to be happy and healthy
I have one hen who is constantly plucking and pulling and pecking out feathers of the other hens , then eating them, and they are getting hurt. They have bare (sometimes bloody) patches at the base of their tail, one down their neck completely and all have bare butts. I do not know what to do and through more research i purchased blue-kote from the local feed store and applied it on the bare areas. It is only the second day of the blue-kote treatment and I have still noticed the hen picking on the other girls in the same spots. For tonight, I have her in a separate dog crate inside the coop just to give the other girls a break. Should I continue the separation? for how long? Is blue-kote the right thing? Should I look to re-home the hen, but would another take up the same job? Please! I really need help and I am so sad to have this happening because I just want all my birds to be happy and healthy