WHY is she pulling their feathers out & eating them?!?!?

Hey all! I've been perusing your site & forum since I got my 4 chicks in April......WOW what a help it has been!
As a newcomer to the whole "Chicken Thing" I found just about any info I needed on this site & more!

Now to my "issue"......it's a long post, but figurd I'd try to get all the info in possible so as to avoid missing info!!

I had built the coop & run previously for 2 Roosters that someone had "dumped" in our neighborhood that I felt needed a safe place to call home in the winter & at night....well they eventually moved on (or died i presume) as I wasn't going to keep them locked up except at night since they loved to be free!!

So now I had a coop & a run & the feed stores were all selling cute fuzzy spring chicks.....(I HATE that idea btw.....too many moron's buying cute little fuzzy babies that haven't got a clue!) and I decided that it was time to produce our own fresh eggs.
I resisted the temptation to buy any random chicks & ordered 2 sexed RIR's & 2 Sussex Speckled from my feed store that gets them from McMurray's. I doubled the size of the run & put outdoor roosts in & waited patiently........

Perfect- all of my research on how to & what to worked out like a charm.....from brooder to feed to lighting etc..... I put them on lights to extend their daylight when the days started getting shorter & got my first egg from one of my RIR's on Labor Day...right on schedule!!!! (I was so proud, I picked up little "Rosie" & hugged her!!!)

So she has been the only one laying, an egg a day, BUT NOW....she started a week & a half ago PLUCKING the soft feathers out of the other 3 girls hind ends!!! AND EATING THEM!!!
NASTY!!!!! I can't eat eggs from a chicken that eats CHICKEN FEATHERS!!! The other 3 girls wont even come down from their roost poles to eat, scratch or poop!! They're scared "eggless"!!

I did more research... & found out about the protein deficiency issue & decided to pull the scratch from their diet & feed strictly Layer pellets, Black Oil Sunflower Seeds & Plain Yogurt.....

Then after watching her pluck & eat their feathers & heard my poor other girls scream another day, I pulled her from the flock & put her in a big wire dog crate in my feed room in the barn....she has all her essentials & is on the same timed light as the others & only held out on giving an egg for the first day, so she's happy...... I did this all last tuesday 09-15-09. I tried to put her back in the run with the others on Saturday for a little while & she lasted @ 3 minutes until one of the others walked past & she reached out & grabbed a feather!!!! WTH???? I grabbed her, yanked the feather from her mouth & put her back in the cage!!! Grrrrrrrr.....

My other 3 are living peacefully together & after having "Miss Nasty Rosie" out for only 5 days, the 2 speckled (Harriet & Wanda) gave me their 1st eggs yesterday & I'm sure I'll have the other RIR's (Peggy) first today!!! I'm so proud! My family thinks I've lost it!

What do I do?????
Will Rosie ever get over he feather plucking & eating?? How long should I keep her separate?? I won't "cull" her, as I think the idea is....well, just yuk!
I don't want the others to get stressed again & drop egg production, nor do I want their @$$es to get feather pulled out all day every day...
If I need to keep Rosie out for 2 or 3 weeks, so be it, but if I'm wasting my time, I'll just give her to one of the neighbors or some friends that have lots of chickens & she'll have to fend for herself..... but I feel like I'm abandoning one of my "kids" if I ship her away!!

Sorry for the rant, but I'm desperately seeking advice or help, as I've exhausted all my resources at this point!!

Any help or ideas would be appreciated!!!!

THANKS!!!!

Michelle

 

Quote:Thanks for the input! I've heard that, but I'm trying to keep them "vegetarian fed"..... silly, but my family had always eaten "Eggland's Best" vegi fed hen eggs & it's been hard enough to convinve them that my own eggs will be better for them!!

They (the family) are just finally eating them now (in omelets) after having our own eggs for 2 weeks now.....until that it was only in baked goods!

 

Quote:LOL!!! ...... I could think of several people that I could give her to as a "present"!!!! Nah..... there are 3 farms that she could go to to see if she'll chill..... they have big established flocks & I think they'd put her right in her place..... I'd rather just see if I can straighten her out & put her back with her sisters! All I'd need to hear is that she got beat to death by another bird & I'd feel horrible!

I'll go get some higher protein to try to mix in today! I WILL win this battle.....