so confused? chicks eating their feathers

[TXWIFE92]

I have 16 RI chicks that are about 2 months old. I had them in one cage but they started eating the feathers off of each other. So I split them into two seperate cages. They quit doing it for a couple of days and now it is happening again. They picked all the feather off of one and pecked a inch hole in her back side. She ended up dieing. Now they did it to another one and just picked all the feathers off of the back. I have been around chickens most of my life and never seen this. If you have any suggestions let me know. What makes them do it and why? They don't eating much of the scratch that I give them. It's like they don't like it or something. So maybe they are hungry or lacking something. They are on the ground so they have grass and bugs to keep them busy. I'm just so lost with this and help is much needed.

I'm in the process of building a coop with a 12 x 24 yard. So they will have plenty of room to roam. This is my second coop and have to make it predator proof. I had a 15 pound raccoon killed my other 10 chicks and a hen before I got these.

I have 1 rooster, 12 hens, and 15 RI chicks, and one bantam solid white.

Thank you and God Bless

 

[sonew123]

They are bored out of their minds...My 10 chicks in a 4 x 6 brooder have been doing it to eachother-I had to make a make shift pen outside while the big coop is getting built-I take them out whe it's nice out and leave them out as long as possible-then they are happy when they go back in and it seems to help-throw perches in there. grit and treats..toys..anything that will try to make their minds think of anythign else besides picking on eachother out of boredom...

 

[TXmom]

What do you feed them? It's possible they need more protein in their diet, but more likely it's from boredom and overcrowding. I used to take my chicks out to the unfinished coop/run on nice days, and then bring them back to the inside brooder in the afternoon/evening. By 7 weeks, they were moved outside permanently.

There's another BYC member that had lots of pecking problems like that with his RIR chicks, so he put Pinless Peepers on them and it worked great for him. You might look those up.

 

[Mrs.Puff]

Usually feather picking like that is out of boredom, especially if they are actually drawing blood and hurting other hens. Stop giving them scratch, and just give them feed. They are getting too many calories, and with too much energy, they pick at each other out of boredom. You might want to restrict feed a bit, or you could try putting a red light on them. The red light often calms them down.

 

[TXmom]

Yes, I forgot to mention the light. If you keep the lights dim while they're in a brooder, they might not be so aggressive. I always had a red light on mine and they very rarely picked each other...never had bald spots or blood. They do love to eat feathers, though. If someone flaps their wings and a feather pops out, it's a mad rush to see who gets it first

 

[agirly4chicks]

Mine are 13 weeks old and they are eating feathers off the floor of the coop and run. They are not from one bird all of them and they all are eating them. What could that be from? I have 10, the coop is 8'x10' and the run is 6'x8'.

Angie

 

[TXmom]

I'm no expert, but from what I can tell that's normal. There are feathers all over my coop and run, plus I know they eat a good quantity of them, but they are all healthy and get along well (17 weeks old). I don't think there's anything wrong with them.

My guess is that they lose and grow feathers on a continuous basis as they're growing. When they get bigger, their feathers need to be bigger.

 

[speckledhen]

They often eat feathers for protein, not always, but sometimes. You mentioned giving two month old chicks scratch. How much are you giving them? Regular scratch has about 8% protein, so any of that you give them will effectively lower their protein levels when it's important for their growth. I never give scratch at all till chicks are 10-12 weeks old, and then, only as a training tool so they'll learn to come to us.