Ways to stop feather pecking in hens??

[nj2wv]

welcome to BYC !!

 

[J6 darlings]

I have one buff with all beautiful feathers. I have seen her peck and eat my other's feathers. I will gladly purchase the pinless peepers and the pliers. Can the pinless peeper be removed if attached wrong or should it ever be removed?

 

[enola]

They are easy to apply and easy to remove. They are a very good investment.

 

[Birdrain92]

I have one buff with all beautiful feathers. I have seen her peck and eat my other's feathers. I will gladly purchase the pinless peepers and the pliers. Can the pinless peeper be removed if attached wrong or should it ever be removed?

What's the calcium % in their feed? I've only seen birds pick and eat each others feathers if they are needing calcium.

 

[enola]

If you are feeding a feed that doesn't have animal protein in it, that may be why she is plucking feathers.

 

[trailrider330]

Welcome to the BYC flock! We are glad you joined us!

 

[kiwihenhouse]

Hi there. I am new to this forum and am having the same problem with my hens. Most of them are lightly pecking feathers. No blood or damage to skin and it is not aggressive pecking. I am wondering if you ever resolved this problem. I have a flock of 10 Hyline from a free range egg producer and 2 Orpingtons. They free range on about an acre and at night they are in their enclosure of about 75 square metres and their house. Thanks for any help. They don't seem to have mites. We treated them with diatomaceous earth, but it didn't seem to make a difference .

 

[Maria Vicki]

Hello!
I have the pecking and eating feathers problem, I don't know what is Pinless peepers, can you help me?
Thank you.
Regards.

 

[Birdrain92]

Hello!
I have the pecking and eating feathers problem, I don't know what is Pinless peepers, can you help me?
Thank you.
Regards.

Feather picking and eating is do to the deficiency in protein or calcium. Can you please tell us what you're feeding your birds. If they have a nutrition tag on the feed tell us the protein and calcium.

 

[VickisChickis]

I have (6) 10 week old pullets. One just starting pulling feathers. (They have a 6x6 coop plus a 8x10 run) They aren't free ranging yet as we have a lot of preditors. They are on a medicated starter 18% protein, but didn't look at calcium. Do you think they may be needing calcium already? I also give them a small treat every day such as watermelon, cucumber & scrambled eggs. (Usually a fruit, protein and green) The other factor may be the heat. I live in the Dallas area and it has gone from beautiful 70 degree days to 90 and humid!