Help feather pecking (photos)

[crispy2019]

I have 5 hybrid girls still laying in their first year. They are starting to peck each other around the vent and eat the feathers. Usually they are in the garden but due to bird flu they are being kept in their 4 by 5 metre run...they are not happy. I think it's going to end in tears, I'm not sure what to do. I have been spraying them with anti pecking spray the last couple of days. I've added extra bedding with seeds hidden in to the coop for them to scratch in and also hung a cabbage, which they don't seem interested in. What else can I do... please recommend ideas/products that might help...thank you

I’m no expert at all as I’ve only had mine since September and hopefully someone else may be along to help better. I guess it’s difficult to know what the cause is, but the problem is one thing often leads to another issue. Do they usually have bare bottoms?

I would try and cover all bases (but I’m not that experienced).

Firstly, I would check for mites. Have they been wormed? Could the loss of feathers been due to molt? I would up their protein intake, eating feathers can be a sign of a protein deficiency - are they on pellets? Once the bottom is bare and red this will attract the others to peck anyway (if you see blood drawn you will have to separate - they can be quite vicious once blood is drawn). You can use Vaseline on their vent area to make the pecking less effective and purple spray to disguise the redness.

If you think the pecking may have started due to boredom (mine are thoroughly fed up too), maybe build a perch, a chicken swing, hang up some old CDs, put a straw bale in there with them, a ball which releases seed as they push it around, a dust bath. I have been dispersing treats throughout the day to try to keep mine interested, spinach, sweet corn, porridge, corn (not all in one day though). Hope you get to the ‘bottom’ of it.

Check chickens for lice (they are big and should be fairly easy to see). Check housing for red mite. Spend time watching the chickens to check what is going on. We had this with one of ours last year and it got so bad we had to separate her. Then it got worse - she was self traumatising!! Turns out there is a 'depluming mite', which is what we think she had and it makes them pull out their own feathers!

Not saying that's what it is, but be aware they might be pulling their own feathers out as well as being pecked by the others. Good advice from PP regarding husbandry and environmental enrichment, I think 4x5m sounds fine, by the way, more than my chooks have at the moment. Are all 5 hens affected? If 4 hens have bald bottoms, but one does not, you may just have a rogue hen.

Just wondering if you managed to solve this OP? Two of my hens have bare bottoms at varying stages and the other has a suspiciously well covered rear so I should think she’s the culprit. I haven’t noticed it happening in the run though, so perhaps just in the coop before they’re let out in the mornings? Am going to delouse and get antipecking spray first thing tomorrow.
Any other words of advice? I think they’re just so bored at being shut in at the moment.

Should add - they get various veg throughout the day, have things hanging up and balls that release corn. Am trying my best . I’m not sure it’s feasible to come up with an entirely separate set up for one of them so it may be a case of rehoming the mean girl.

If you can't separate them try and break the pattern by keeping them in the dark for longer and giving them a shorter day. Keeping them in the dark was the only thing which stopped ours.

Definitely keep an eye on them as they will choose the weakest one and peck her to death once the pecking gets out of hand. Can you keep some inside and some outside and rotate them during the daytime?

Maybe I could get a small coop and run as a temporary measure if you think that would help? I can look to pick up something off eBay maybe, I just don’t think I could come up with a whole separate set up that would be good enough on a permanent basis.

I had to separate one of mine due to a bloody prolapsed vent, I didn’t have another set up, so I kept her in the office (much to my husband’s frustration) and let her free range around the main run during the day (chicken lockdown makes that a bit of a moral dilemma though). When I needed to reintroduce, I made sure I was on hand to break up anything that happened...and I sat with them until dusk and they went to bed. It was time consuming and it won’t work for everyone...because, of well, life! You can try to put the outliner back in during dusk though, when they are settled? TBH my chicken prolapsed a good few times and we did have the convo about PTS...because it was hard work...I am at SAHP and with time a bit of luck (and a lot of effort)...touch wood, it worked out in the end...but it was hard going, would not of judged myself for calling it a day.

Agreed, I’m a vegetarian even, but if the need arose to humanely dispatch one I wouldn’t feel too bad, they’ve had a better life than most chickens up to this point! If we can just make it through this period until they’re allowed out again though I feel the issue might get resolved.

Thanks for posting this, I will keep a look out for it with ours too - they're so bored being cooped up, they're definitely more grouchy with each other than before when they free ranged. Some good ideas here. Just been googling for nail clippers too as their claws are getting a bit long being in their run all the time.

Blueberries...I tried mine on blueberries (quite expensive at the mo because they are not in season here now ), but they live for their daily dose of blueberries!! Turns their Poo blue...but they love them.

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I've managed to mostly solve it. I tried the anti pecking spray for a good five days, then used the purple antiseptic animal spray that dies their feathers. I think what really helped is that I really up'd their protein. Sunflower seeds, mealworms, sardines etc. All sprinkled/hidden in a layer of the bedding wood chips so they spent a long time all day scratching around for the treats. I also hung up white/green cabbages which they spent a good few hours pecking at. I also hung up a seed block for them to peck at, its quite hard work for them to peck at. I also added in a few more spaces to perch. All but one of them have started to grow their feathers back, I think the other one will in time it's just taking a little longer...I haven't observed the feather pecking behaviour for a while now so I'm hoping I've cracked it 🤞