The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: NorthWestPoultry.co.uk on July 17, 2011, 07:26:40 pm
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hi guys i raise alot of rare breed chickens for auctions
a problem i am having is feather pecking i have about 70 in a hut with a let to get outside to fenced off
pen i have 2 large hoppers one with feed and one with water in i also have cds hanging and greens
but yet the birds keep picking each other last year i lost aorund 20 birds out of a batch with other birds stripping the
feathers from there back then picking a hole open and eating there inside in turn killing the bird
and this year looks like i am going to have the same problem as the feathers on the backs are just about gone
they seem fine until there moved from the rearing shed into the large shed with perches then they start on each other
the problem is they are to young to be let outside and have the full field as hawks would take them or they would just get cold and wet
but when they are locked in they wont stop eating each other i just dont now what to do ???
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cut there beaks :chook:
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I allow 2 inches of feeding space per bird on a round hopper. So 1 large hopper with a circumference of 60 inches would feed 30 birds. Same for the water too. For 70 birds I would have at least 3 feeders and 3 waters.
I find that more space & more feeding stations = less feather pecking.