Winter stress.

[saggitt]

Wee flock four birds since Sept. hard cold here -15 nights. No heating. Pecking bad now on 2-3 birds. Can’t separate. Is it just the stress of cold? Food water outside etc. All good. Four eggs every day. Do I try heat?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Wee flock four birds since Sept. hard cold here -15 nights. No heating. Pecking bad now on 2-3 birds. Can’t separate. Is it just the stress of cold? Food water outside etc. All good. Four eggs every day. Do I try heat?

Where are you located in the world?
How big is your coop?
Do your chickens go outside into a run?
What do you feed?
Is the -15 in C or F?

Pecking is bad - do you mean they are pecking at one another? Can you post some photos of the chickens and your housing?
If they are picking at one another, they may be stressed over being cooped up on cold days. Is thawed water always available?

Have you inspected the chickens for lice/mites?
Do they have access to a dust bathing area?

It can be hard to know what's going on - if they are pecking at one another, then space may be an issue. Are they eating one another's feathers? They may need some extra protein.
If they are picking at themselves, you may have a parasites problem.

 

[Eggcessive]

It could be from overcrowding while they are not able to get outside. Boredom, too little protein in the diet, not being able to get out to free range, too much light, and other reasons can cause pecking. If snow is a problem, sometimes shoveling a path to get out, adding more room and interesting things to explore, and increasing protein to 20% in a flock raiser type feed can help. Try to hide any red spots on skin with BluKote or an antipeckmlotion. A minimum of 4 square feet per chicken inside the coop, and 10 in the run is a good amount of room. The breeds of the chickens sometimes is important as well.

 

[saggitt]

Where are you located in the world?
How big is your coop?
Do your chickens go outside into a run?
What do you feed?
Is the -15 in C or F?

Pecking is bad - do you mean they are pecking at one another? Can you post some photos of the chickens and your housing?
If they are picking at one another, they may be stressed over being cooped up on cold days. Is thawed water always available?

Have you inspected the chickens for lice/mites?
Do they have access to a dust bathing area?

It can be hard to know what's going on - if they are pecking at one another, then space may be an issue. Are they eating one another's feathers? They may need some extra protein.
If they are picking at themselves, you may have a parasites problem.

T

 

[saggitt]

Ontario Canada. Four by eight inside four by eight outside. Feed inside, outside. Outside plastic wrapped for wind block. Roofed run. No wet no snow. Outside open throughout day, in out freely. No free range. Layer feed. Black Sunflower 2/3 days, spinach, romaine, scrambled eggs, oatmeal. -15C nights. Pecked necks two, feathers gone, pecked back at tail one no bare spots. One raw spot front chest/neck one bird just today. I have a heat bulb could use at night for some relief maybe.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Ontario Canada. Four by eight inside four by eight outside. Feed inside, outside. Outside plastic wrapped for wind block. Roofed run. No wet no snow. Outside open throughout day, in out freely. No free range. Layer feed. Black Sunflower 2/3 days, spinach, romaine, scrambled eggs, oatmeal. -15C nights. Pecked necks two, feathers gone, pecked back at tail one no bare spots. One raw spot front chest/neck one bird just today. I have a heat bulb could use at night for some relief maybe.

Likely they need more space.
If they are also eating the feathers, then you may want to cut down on all the treats and focus on them eating their normal feed and add protein.