[Maeve]

I have been keeping hens for about 3 years now but still feel a novice so would really appreciate any advice.  I have 4 hens - a Black Rock, a Welsummer and 2 Rhode Island Reds.  They are all active, healthy and laying prolifically but look a mess.
They are all almost bare-breasted despite having straw in the nesting boxes as I thought the litter was too rough; three of them have bare bottoms and undercarriages and even the Welsummer who has a "frilly knickers" bottom, is a bit ragged; the RIRs have no feathers on the lower half of their backs. 
Part of the problem I know is feather pecking by the Black Rock and Welsummer (numbers 1 and 2 in the pecking order) but as even they look dishevelled and as the RIRs NEVER peck them and they don't seem to peck each other, I think there must be a further problem.
They do seem to peck at themselves a lot (or what seems a lot to me), almost as if they are itchy.  I tried using louse powder a while ago but it did not seem to make much difference.  Should I persevere or try something else? 
They are in a run for most of the time but are let out into the garden for several hours every day.  Apologies for this long post but I have tried to give all relevant details.

[SMS6]

well I'm probably more of a novice than you so not qualified to answer but one of my hens started pulling feathers from the back of the other two and Ibought some of that anti-pecking spray.  It worked straight away.

[OpiumEater]

Hi Mauve, I don't know if you got your problem sorted, but I had similar issues and a bit stuck as to what to do as the anti-pecking spray just made then look all sticky and did not help as they still plucked feathers from the back area.

After doing some internet searching, I came across some research that looked at the quality of chicken food and the linking to feather pecking. It stated that with the introduction of high quality food, hens need to scratch less to get the required amount of nutrients, and so end up pecking each other. It went further to 'dilute' the food, causing the hens to scratch more to get the same level of nutrients, which they did, with a corresponding drop in feather pecking.

So I have:
*put more layers on the ground so they have to scratch for it (but not too much to encourage rats)
*made a poultry saddle to protect her back while the feathers grow back. You can buy these from many sources, but I've found it very easy to make one using the instructions from this site. http://backtobasicliving.com/blog/make-a-chicken-saddle/
*Hang greens in a small wire basket when they are in the run to help limit boredom and encourage pecking on anything other than each other.

I did try one of those pecking blocks, but they destroyed it in two days, and there are only two of them! Ended putting that into the hanging wire basket thingy. 


Hope this helps.

Best wishes

Christine