Unknown reason for hens constant feather pecking

[Mysimplewyominglife]

I have a hen who started to feather peck maybe a month and a half ago, as soon as it started we used the feather pecking sprays on the market after 2 weeks of 4x daily use on all of the birds we were told by our neighbour that he see's our Rhode rock pecking the others 5 girls that's including our alpha who in turns chases her and tries to get her.

The last 3 weeks we have been using Stockholm tar 1-2 times a week as it goes on quite thick and goodness me does it stinks it smells like medicated shampoo it seemed to be working then I found a bald patch on one of my girls and my neighbor said he keeps seeing the same one pecking even with the tar on.

I have cleaned and removed the one just in case and will tar her in a few days.

They have fresh water and food they have apple cider vinegar w garlic as well as a multi vitamin with sea weed added to their water and a poultry spice added to their food they have access to flint and oyster shell any the free range all but 2 hrs at most a day as we have a lab who goes out maybe 15-30mins 3-4 times a day to do his business.

I have no clue what more I can do to stop this dumb hen from feather pecking short of rehoming her or well if with her head which I don't really want to do either as she is a good layer and lays a egg every day since she started laying. And suggestions?

 

[kitkat5505]

Have you treated them for mites and lice? Often mites are too tiny to see easily, some you can only find by rubbing a white paper or tissue on the coop walls/roosts and seeing if you get bloody streaks.

 

[Mysimplewyominglife]

Have you treated them for mites and lice? Often mites are too tiny to see easily, some you can only find by rubbing a white paper or tissue on the coop walls/roosts and seeing if you get bloody streaks.

No lice or mites I have checked and even treat for it as a counter measure. Unsure why tho one would peck everyone else if that was the case as she is the only one pecking.

 

[kitkat5505]

Could she maybe need more protein? Feathers are high in protein. Or maybe she's just a jerk lol

 

[sourland]

Do an on site search on Pin Less Peepers.

 

[Mysimplewyominglife]

Possible but how would I get more protein for her other then eggs as my great grand mother told me never give them eggs even if cooked as the would become eggs eaters and that was her own experience growing up.

Just found someone on eBay that sells them but would come from Canada. Wish the UK had the things. Will give these a try any other suggestions

 

[sourland]

Dry cat food is a good protein source. Feather picking is sometimes a result of over crowding, boredom or low protein. If you are feeding a commercial poultry ration it is very unlikely that low protein is causing the problem. It is a bad habit that some birds develop for no apparent reason.

 

[kitkat5505]

Possible but how would I get more protein for her other then eggs as my great grand mother told me never give them eggs even if cooked as the would become eggs eaters and that was her own experience growing up.

Just found someone on eBay that sells them but would come from Canada. Wish the UK had the things. Will give these a try any other suggestions

Lots of people feed their chickens scrambled eggs or mashed boiled eggs.

 

[Abriana]

Some reasons for feather pecking:
not enough space
need more protein
bored
There are lots of ideas for boredom busters for chickens online. For example, hang a head of cabbage in their pen or on the coop, cut open a cucumber or melon and put it in the pen, hang shiny CD's in the pen for them to peck at, or build platforms and roosts for them to explore. If you have a moveable pen, you could move it to a new interesting spot, with bramble/tall grass/lots of bugs.
Chickens love meat. Raw chicken isn't a good idea, since it can lead to new problems of cannibalism, but cooked chicken, beef, and pork happen to be my chickens' favorites. Just make sure that whatever meat you may feed them doesn't have any spices or other ingrediants that chickens can't have.
How you enlarge their space (if you choose to) is a decision on how their pen is already set up. If they are free ranged, space is probably not an issue.
Make sure that the feather pecking doesn't go too far to blood. If it gets that far, the chickens will see the blood and just keep pecking until the hen is dead. Keep an eye on them until the problem is solved to avoid this issue.

 

[Mysimplewyominglife]

Some reasons for feather pecking:
not enough space
need more protein
bored
There are lots of ideas for boredom busters for chickens online. For example, hang a head of cabbage in their pen or on the coop, cut open a cucumber or melon and put it in the pen, hang shiny CD's in the pen for them to peck at, or build platforms and roosts for them to explore. If you have a moveable pen, you could move it to a new interesting spot, with bramble/tall grass/lots of bugs.
Chickens love meat. Raw chicken isn't a good idea, since it can lead to new problems of cannibalism, but cooked chicken, beef, and pork happen to be my chickens' favorites. Just make sure that whatever meat you may feed them doesn't have any spices or other ingrediants that chickens can't have.
How you enlarge their space (if you choose to) is a decision on how their pen is already set up. If they are free ranged, space is probably not an issue.
Make sure that the feather pecking doesn't go too far to blood. If it gets that far, the chickens will see the blood and just keep pecking until the hen is dead. Keep an eye on them until the problem is solved to avoid this issue.

Tried fruit and veg the only thing they go after is watermelon . coop and run are heavy so not moveable but they do free range in a large like 1,000sqft yard and love the bugs in it. I was told never to feed them any kind of meat or eggs as the people who told me this ened up with egg eaters or cannibalism in their flock so I'm weary of feeding eggs and meat.