What happened to her tail feathers?

[Okaythen]

Recently my smallest chicken rattlesnake has been very vocal. I thought she might have wanted to lay an egg but even at night, when I fill up the food and water, she begins to sort of squawk. (I say squawk but it’s really just her “speaking”) I don’t know what it could be because all of my other girls are fine. I have however added a new hen to the flock, but she is the lowest in the pecking triangle (Their pecking order got messed up when rattlesnake hatched eggs and I separated them). I’m new to raising chickens and haven’t ever seen my other girls tail feathers been, I’m assuming, ripped out before. I held her for a bit and she’s been calm, but won’t leave my side.

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi!

From what I can tell from those close-up shots, they got pulled out. I assume another chicken did it unless you've got a predator or even a dog that might have gotten hold of her back end.

In case it was another chicken, usually, feather picking is caused when they're overcrowded or lacking protein. They should have 4 sq feet each in the coop and minimally 10 sq ft in the run if they don't free range.

In case it's a protein issue, you could try upping their protein with scrambled eggs, canned tuna in water, or if they're on layer feed, switch over to an all-flock. Generally, layer feed is around 16% protein, and all-flocks are 18-20%. If you switch to an all flock, you'd need to have oyster shell in a separate dish or feeder for them to compensate for the lower calcium.