feather pecking

[gazzaroo]

can any one help with my problem of feather pecking,,, my hens have gone mad me thinks. iv sprayed them with anti pecking thinky   

[gazzaroo]

[goodlife]

sometimes feather pecking is associated with lack of protein in their diet..are they plugging the feathers and eating some too?
Try giving them plenty of protein treats..eg.worms, crushed up snails, dog food (no chiken or turkey meat though).
Other than that..if there is anything bleeding amongst the feathers they get eager with pecking with the blood..
Take the pecked bird ..plunge it into warm water with drop of washing up liquid and was any possible bit of blood off.
It might be even good idea bath them all..they are not normally too interested pecking wet feathers..but obviously you cannot do this all the time.
Have they go any parasites?..itch will make them peck to..are they pecking themselves as well?

[gazzaroo]

it started with just one doing it ,,its eating them ,,now its seems 3 of them arr doing it...and iv seen them pecking the picker back...if i put a cockral in will it stop them

[goodlife]

Ahh..if they are eating them..it's lack of protein..feathers are protein rich source but obviously you don't want them to carry on like that.
No, cockrel wont stop it...
You need to give them protein in their diet..even if you have some roast beef or pork scraps left over from dinner..that would do..but don't give anything salty.
This often happens in spring/early summer when chickens come into lay and are most active with it. Easiest way to remedy it is giving some dog/cat food couple of times a week for while and then now and then during laying season.
Best sort to give is loaf style food..no gravy or gelly..and check there is no poultry meat in it ;) While I'm in lottie and I'm digging I always save some of the biggest worms for my girls..and once weather is warmer..look out in rainy day some of the snails that come out..give a bit of brick on their backs and chuck them your chickens pen..they will love it! All protein...and FREE!

[chickenmad]

a good dollop of cod liver oil mixed in with their pellets will help, mashed up boiled egg, tuna, sardines or similar, even cat food

[Stedic]

I've got 3 ex-batts and 2 hybrids.  I noticed around the start of last month that they'd started feather pecking and eating them, the ex-batts were pretty bald to start with so looked a total state!

What I did was to treat them for everything at once.  I gave the house a good clean (red mite/lice can cause feather pulling), fed them two handfuls of dried mealworms a day (excellent protein and they love them), wormed them with Flubenvet (to make sure they got all the protein).  I also added a sweetcorn cob or two each day to keep them (and me) amused.  I coated them in anti-peck spray and used the purple spray on the worst areas.

My vet also unofficially recommended using Frontline for cats (not licensed for poultry in the UK, but google it and you'll find its used lots).  That took out any remaining lice and mites overnight.

After a week they stopped pecking and all 5 feathered up - I can only assume they were under the weather or starting their moult.  If that hadn't worked I'd have had to seperate off the worst offender to reset the pecking order.