Topic of the Week - Feather Pecking/Eating

[lazy gardener]

Quote: Both of your comments make sense, if you think like a chicken: Says the sex link: "I'm laying more eggs than any one else out here. I need more protein than those slackers do. Hey, you, chubby cheeks! You got something stuck on your face... right there. Yeah, that's it, those chubby cheek feathers. Let me just fix that for you. There. That looks better. Hmmm... Tasty!"

 

[azygous]

This is a topic where there are no easy, pat answers. Thinking that feather picking is a result of not enough protein is naive and simplistic. Until you've wrestled with this problem in your flock, you really can have no realistic idea of what a flock keeper with a feather picker is dealing with. Assuming it happens because of crowded conditions is also risking confusing coincidence with cause. Overcrowding has never been an issue in my flock nor has lack of protein.

I've been wrestling with this problem practically from the time I first got chickens almost ten years ago. The first extreme case I had, though, was a young three-month old EE pullet named Flo. I read that it was lack of adequate protein that caused feather picking, so I started giving her a tablespoon of tuna each day. While she enjoyed her daily treat, it did absolutely nothing to curb her destructive behavior, and probably set her up for gout arthritis as she grew older.

At one point some friends who had poop eating dogs recommended Forco, a pre-biotic supplement for horses, dogs and poultry. It was pricey stuff, but I felt it was worth it if it worked. Flo was not just a feather picker. She was a psychotic feather picker, mowing feathers at a full run, zipping from one victim to the next without even slowing down to rest. The Forco did seem to work, at least for a while, and I thought I had found the miracle cure. I began a thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/697052/i-think-i-found-a-miracle-cure-for-feather-picking on the subject, and it grew to dozens and dozens of pages, people sharing their successes and failures in coping with the problem.

When Flo began her serial picking again, I came to several conclusions. One was that I believe some individuals are hard wired in their brain to pick feathers. Since I had tried everything with Flo, it was natural to come to this conclusion in her case.

Another thing I have observed is that feather picking appears to be seasonal. It also seems to be hormone related, dropping off in the fall, becoming dormant in winter, and in spring, the culprits spring into action again, pardon the pun.

It also seems to affect some breeds more than others, as some of you have already noted. In my flock, the EEs and the Speckled Sussex are the main perpetrators.

There is likely no cure. There really is no sure-fire preventative, either. But there are some things that are effective in the short term, and they may even stop a budding feather picking career before it gets out of hand. Pinless peepers are what I recommend to anyone with this problem, although some chickens can develop "work-arounds". Recently, a new EE pullet was yanking feathers. She had just come into her hormones, and I installed peepers on her for about three weeks, then removed them. She seems to be doing fine now. But I have my eye on her just the same.

I've long been a believer that feather picking is an abhorrent behavior originating in the brain. Most experts recommend extra protein for the feather picker, but I think there may be something else lacking in the diet. B-3 which is niacin, if lacking in an animal's diet, can cause cannibalism. I therefore recommend giving your feather pickers extra B-3 each day.

I find it very interesting that some of you living in the regions of Africa and Australia without seasonal climate changes have experience little or no feather picking in your flocks. I wonder if those in southern California and Florida and Mexico and Hawaii have experience similar lack of picking in their flocks. It would be enlightening to know this.

 

[ejsapp]

e 28 sq ft under roof and 84 sqft of run.

 

[PrimroseMom1]

Weird chicken. I will never keep sex links again. They can be odd birds who make trouble.

They for sure like to be head hen. But, my RIR's were the the bossiest. The Amercauna were flighty and nervous, but sweet. But, this hen is the sweetest one I've ever had.

 

[redsix]

The topic of feather pecking/eating is one that comes up fairly often, so this week I would like to hear you all's thoughts on this dilemma and what step(s) you've taken to help stop/prevent it. Specifically:

- What causes the flock to start pecking/eating each others' feathers?
- What level of pecking is normal is what is not? (For new chicken keepers)
- How can you prevent/stop feather pecking/eating?

Need to make sure that adjacent roost boards/poles are spaced far enough apart that the chickens can't reach each other.

 

[Shezadandy]

Am only posting as I very recently observed some of this behavior.
I think there can be multiple causes, that can be hard to pinpoint and 'treat'.
After crowding stress and aggression, I think lack of animal protein I think may be one of the major causes.

Have had several bearded/muffed birds lose those facial feathers.
This winter I have more birds than I should in the space that I have in the climate I live in, so some crowding stress maybe-tho no real violence that I have seen. I also have switched back to a 'vegetarian' feed and have not been providing as much meat scraps as usual. I do use a higher protein crumble and they get about 18% with roughly figuring in the other foods they get.

A couple birds have bare throats and I observed the 'cause' first hand yesterday.
Stood and watched 2 hens calmly peck and pull feathers off another's neck and face while she also stood calmly and allowed it. I had suspected this was happening due to her bare throat and missing beard/muff, but this was the first time I witnessed it first hand.

Don't know exactly why, but will be providing them some animal protein asap.

I've got a similar phenomenon going in my flock- feathers picked from the front of the neck, and the behavior is isolated to a single age group that was raised together and later integrated with the main flock. I had a group of 8 chicks that turned out to be 6 pullets and 2 cockerels.

Once they were feathered out and approaching sexual maturity, all the pullets did this to both of the cockerels, who stood there like they were at a beauty shop being tended to. The 2 GLWs in the group were the "head girls" and received the same attentions from the other four pullets without any objections from the GLWs. Now that there are no cockerels and I rehomed one of the GLWs, the remaining GLW is the only one the other 4 continue to do this to- the dominant hen only in their little group- none of the other 15 hens/pullets are touched, with no crowding issue. Also the behavior started before integrating with the main flock.

If she (the remaining GLW with the bare neck) objected to the attention, she'd have them running in less than a second with a nasty peck. The breeds doing it in my case are 2 Welsummers (primarily) and 2 Super Blues (not as often). None of these breeds out-lays the other (like some of the sex-link hen experienced by others) - just about even in production.

Given that it's only being done to the leaders in my case (cockerels followed by the head girls from that group), I'm leaning towards some sort of social thing- maybe there's a nutritional component, but they've gotten 20% protein (flock raiser) with small amounts of scratch-- and they don't do it to anyone else - and no other bird from any other age group has joined in.

What's your favorite source of animal protein to try?

 

[aart]

It is indeed an odd behavior...mine also is in the same age group, now see another with the bare chin (a non bearded).
I truly don't know if it's nutritional or social(normal or warped-haha) or pecking order or what...smh.

I can get a 20% crumble with animal protein locally(Prince), but it's always months old so I went back to the Flock Raiser.
Too bad, as they did pretty well on it until the dates went farther and farther back.
Am now adding dried meal worms 2-3 times a week...was the quickest and easiest to implement.
I spread them out in a long line on the ground with their scratch so everyone gets some.

 

[Shezadandy]

It is indeed an odd behavior...mine also is in the same age group, now see another with the bare chin (a non bearded).
I truly don't know if it's nutritional or social(normal or warped-haha) or pecking order or what...smh.

I can get a 20% crumble with animal protein locally(Prince), but it's always months old so I went back to the Flock Raiser.
Too bad, as they did pretty well on it until the dates went farther and farther back.
Am now adding dried meal worms 2-3 times a week...was the quickest and easiest to implement.
I spread them out in a long line on the ground with their scratch so everyone gets some.

Thanks aart- will try the meal worm trick (glad our farm store had an awesome sale on them for the holidays) and see if it lessens the neck picking on the sole willing victim.
I haven't looked locally for crumbles with animal proteins - will give it a good look. I don't think I've seen the Prince brand in our area though.
So far I'm just glad nobody else is picking up the habit- it's just odd. Really odd. Time to break out a fresh bag of mealworms!

 

[aart]

Quote: I don't know that the mealworms are going to 'cure' the neck picking....if it does it won't happen fast.
Just wanted them to have some animal protein and mealworms are 50% protein...
.....am being very judicious about how much I give them, too much protein can cause problems too.

 

[Shezadandy]

I don't know that the mealworms are going to 'cure' the neck picking....if it does it won't happen fast.
Just wanted them to have some animal protein and mealworms are 50% protein...
.....am being very judicious about how much I give them, too much protein can cause problems too.

Yes-- especially with 20 beaks all going for the same treasures and some being more obnoxious than maybe the ones who really might need it- silly chickens!