I have 9 hens about 5 months old and they are in a coop 8' x 12'. They appear to be pulling each others tail feathers out. What do I do to stop this? and will they grow back?
They will grow back eventually and keep them separated from each other to avoid them from drawing bloodshed.
If they only have the 8x12 area to be in they could be a bit crowded and bored as well. Another thing, usually it's one that instigates the feather pulling. Watch them and see if you can decide who is starting this. Keep that one separate from the others, even if in a dog crate right there in the coop, for about a week. Obviously you can't separate all of them buy you can try and remove the worst offender long enough for her to lose her position in the flock.
Eating tail feathers is the result of: Over crowding Protein deficiency Boredom Address those issues, and the bad behavior will stop.
