Rooster Acting Funny

[TonySorrento]

This picture was taken yesterday.... he is a Silver Dorking - 16 or 17 weeks old ...

Yesterday and this morning, he was very active, crowing like crazy, trying to mate with the girls .... after work today i noticed most of his saddle feathers today are gone ... picked off by the hens ... I watched as he sat alot ... every time he sat, the hens would come over and pick out feathers.... he was eating and drinking good, but sitting an awful lot..and then getting defeathered.

He roosted up with all the birds like normal. I went in the coop with my wife a little bit ago and I held him as we looked him over ... he is very meaty , so not skinny ... clear vent, no sign of mites, but when we moved the feathers around abouve his tail, there were bare spots ..... any ideas?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/library/lvstk2/mf2308.pdf
kansas state univ. addresses this

I hope this helps.

I'd try more protein myself.

 

[jak2002003]

Maybe isolate him for a while then you can see if he is eating and drinking normally and check is poops.

You can also observe if he is breathing normally etc.

Hope he will be OK, he is very handsome rooster!

 

[TonySorrento]

http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/library/lvstk2/mf2308.pdf
kansas state univ. addresses this

I hope this helps.

I'd try more protein myself.

That link does not work ....

 

[TonySorrento]

For the record, there are few things more frustrating than having an issue, posting it on the correct forum, and getting just a few precious souls respond ....

Anyway, I bought flock raiser, which is high in protein...I guess it will be hit and miss ....

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote: http://www.usask.ca/wcvm/herdmed/applied-ethology/behaviourproblems/kcannibal.html

Ok here's another one addressing feather picking.

I hope the higher protein helps!!! Sometimes that's what they crave, as feathers are very high protein.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

If you cannot stop the perpetrators then you can also put pinless peepers on the ones doing the pecking (blinders for chickens). That may work.

You can hang a cabbage up for them to peck at too.

 

[TonySorrento]

The protein was not the answer as they still do it .... its not all the time, but it is a little from every bird (22 of them ) and now most of his big tail feathers have been plucked out

On to TSC today and bought some blue coate as they finally drew blood today .... sprayed the blue coate on and the birds went right to picking, but the recoiled back in disgust and wiped their beaks on the ground and left him alone ... I hope it stays that way...

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

The protein was not the answer as they still do it .... its not all the time, but it is a little from every bird (22 of them ) and now most of his big tail feathers have been plucked out

On to TSC today and bought some blue coate as they finally drew blood today .... sprayed the blue coate on and the birds went right to picking, but the recoiled back in disgust and wiped their beaks on the ground and left him alone ... I hope it stays that way...

Good for you for finding something that worked! I hope it deters them.

 

[TonySorrento]

They started again... culling the rooster

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