[henrietta5]

Hi there - can anyone tell me about hens eating each others feathers ?  We have 11 hens in a 5x6ft  coop and they seem to have enough room at night but I think they still seem to pull each others feathers out.  There's no main culprit and no one hen is suffering, but they seem to take is in turns to steal a few feathers from each other,  during the day mainly I think,  and when they do,  they fight over who gets to eat it !!  Is this normal ?  They have plenty of food, grit, water, treats and space but this seems a bit alarming.  I originally wondered if the coop was too small but when I look in at night there's always one roosting bar completely unoccupied, and in fact two of the hens seem to sit on the floor.  We have 4 orpingtons and 7 hybrid pullets prob about 16 wks old.  They are reasonably tame and happy to eat from your hand, but don't really like to be picked up and cuddled, much to the dismay of the children.  Do I have odd hens or am I doing something really wrong ?  Any help would really be welcome ! 

[joyfull]

Feathers are a source of protein 

[jo40]

Hello H5
I have had problems in relation to both of your recent posts, pecking order and feather eating.
After recently losing Daphney (buff sussex) who was at the top of the pecking order, wilma (maran) has decided she will be the 'top chicken'. Wilma has always been a bit feisty but now Daphney is not there to keep her in line she has become quite aggressive. She was constantly sneaking up on my Orpingtons, pecking and eating their feathers, the purple spray didn't work and she was drawing blood which was worrying as I didn't want the other hens to join in.
Wilma's diet is good, supplemented with poultry spice and lifeguard, I tried cat food and mealworm for extra protein, she still didn't stop.
I have now ordered beak bits from domestic fowl trust, I don't know yet if this will work but from what I understand bad habits/behaviours need to be kicked into touch QUICKLY .
She has also been separated, I intend to keep her apart for about a week and once I have fitted the beak bit I will re-introduce her and see if she has calmed down.
Anyway, this was a very long winded way of saying, maybe fitting them all with beak bits will help and prevent the aggression from getting out of hand    
Jo
 

[henrietta5]

Thanks jo and joyful for your replies - I think my hens seem to have some psychological issues. Perhaps the incessant rain in Scotland is depressing them !  I would be interested to hear how the beak bits help.  To go off at a slight tangent, we bought a beautiful bengal kitten two years ago as a family pet.  Having had cats all my life I realised he needed a bit of settling in time.  However almost from the start he started to attack everyone in the family including the children.  It wasn't a 'playful' nibble but very aggressive biting and scratching.  So much so the children wouldn't be in the same room as him and even I, who was very used to handling cats was badly bitten frequently.   Anyway, as his days were becoming numbered in our house, we tried the vet again and  she suggested soft claws for him, which wouldn't stop him trying to scratch but would kind of make him realise he wasn't having any impact on his victims.  He quickly seemed to realise he was no longer in charge in the house and that we were less scared of him.  Anyway two years later he's a soft lump who just wants cuddled.  I know cats and hens are quite different but perhaps the beak bits will work in the same way.  I should add that on reflection, our kitten was purchased from a very unpleasant, and uncaring breeder who did not handle the kittens at all. In fact the 'mother' cat had bitten off part of one of her other kitten's tails !  ....yes I should have walked away .......  anyway this should be about poultry and not cats - sorry !    The pecking order issue has settled a lot but I wonder if having hens of quite different ages in together had an impact ?  Good luck 

[chickenlady]

I have struggled for a year with feather plucking, since i bought 2 amberlinks from a garden centre (I know!!!  ) they were cramped and already pecking but, i in my niavity! thought once they had my big run to run around in would stop! it didnt! so i rehomed 1 who was the worst perpitraitor, and the other now wears a beak ring with no ill effects. also i bought a bluebelle that i noticed shortly after getting her had the tip of her beak trimmed? then i realised why as the girlie i bought her with was getting plucked by her!  so i have 2 girls with beak rings and it has made for a more pleasant atmosphere in the coop!

Debbie

[grumpydad]

if you have a chicken that is showing a spot of blood and the gentian violet is not working, try some stockholm tar, thick black needs to be heated a bit to make if flow, but paint it over the affected area, worked on our wyandottes who were being pecked on their bums.

martyn

[SMD66]

we tried stockholm tar which only worked while it was freshly applied.  Once it dried on the plucking continued.  We ended up getting rid of the worse offender, (she went to a bigger flock where she couldn't get away with it.)
Henrietta you mentioned a 5 x 6' coop, is this all the room they have or is this the bedroom?

[henrietta5]

Hello again - the 5 x 6' coop is just the bedroom, the nesting boxes are external to this and the coop is in an enclosure about 24 square m.  They will also have access to the rest of the garden, about 3/4 acre.  I haven't let them have full run of the garden yet as several aren't that keen on being handled and I was worried that until they're a bit more tame they might be impossible to round up in the evening.  Also slightly worried that the previously mentioned cat might start stalking them, although most folk I know who have hens say the cat isn't really a threat.......not convinced ! As mentioned two seem to roost on the floor despite there being an unoccupied bar in the coop.  None are laying yet so I actually blocked off entrance to the nesting boxes as a few were sleeping in there and fouling it, and had read that this should be discouraged .  Some of them seem a bit confused about the roosting bar actually. I did try to lift the floor sleepers on to it one night but the other hens started flapping all over the place inside the coop so I abandoned that idea and hoped they might work it out for themselves.  Enclosure has lots of bark mulch and big old logs to climb on etc.  Should I be doing something else ??

[SMD66]

Sounds like you are doing everything fine, they have just got into a bad habit.   I wouldn't recommend stockholm tar after trying it myself tho.

[henrietta5]

Thanks everyone, will let you know how it goes