The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Oopsiboughtasheep on October 29, 2016, 11:02:00 am
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I have a hen who has been with my current little flock (of 10) for several years without incident. Some/or one of the others has started pecking at her feathers and she is now looking rather sorry for herself and I am worried that she will get cold when the weather changes. They haven't drawn blood, just broken her feathers so that she has lots of visible quils. If I separate her, will they be even more horrible to her when I put her back? Can anyone recommend anything that I can spray on her to deter the feather pecker(s)? She, and the others are all in otherwise OK health. They have plenty of access to outside space, fresh air, grass, grit, food etc. I have introduced new hens this year but they have been here for at least 6 months with no nastiness shown before (and they may not be the culprits this time)
I would be very grateful for your advice please.
Many thanks
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Have you definitely seen her being pecked? One of mine is moulting at the moment and looks very tatty! Pecking can be really difficult to stop. If you can identify a single culprit, it may be worth taking the culprit out for a few days so that when she goes back in she will be at the bottom of the pecking order.
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When the new feathers start poking through you first just see what looks like the quils as the feathers have a sheath around them which flakes off. One of mine looks extremely tatty and miserable. It may just be this.
Helen
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If you are sure that she is being picked on it may be worth looking her over to see if she has an underlying issue, has her diet changed recently, or some aspects of it? What is she like as a hen overall? Has she had any health issues in her life at all? Has this happened before or is a new thing? Taking her out might not be the best option as the pecking would only get worse were she reintroduced. I would try and watch them around her and see what they do before making any decisions. Sometimes hens take a dislike to one of their own and thats it, sometimes it changes over time and sometimes not. If there is a problem and it persists I would keep her away from them permanently if you can, or get rid of her to save any hassle, unless she is very dear to you (which I am sure they all equally are) :) in the which case I would keep her permanently away from them and maybe get another mate for her. possibly let her hatch some chicks to keep her company, at the right time of course. All the best and I hope you have this resolved soon! :thumbsup: Could you keep us updated on how you get on?
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Many thanks for your replies.
Louise - no, I haven't actually seen her being pecked, so perhaps I have assumed wrongly that this is the case. I know that they can look very tatty as you say when they moult but this looks a bit different to usual. I also thought it was a bit too late for a moult so am reassured that one of yours is moulting.
Waddy - she is literally a mass of quils (but does have some decent feathers in places) and on closer inspection today, all her tatty areas seem to be symmetrically placed down each side of her body and undercarriage, so perhaps moulting is the problem as I have just said to Louise. She does seem otherwise fine which is good.
WBF - Thankyou and no, no changes to her regime that I can think of. I will keep her in with the others for now as you advise unless I see anyone having a go at her. As you have rightly identified, I am rather fond of her, so will see how things go and report back how things work out for her.
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Last year my chickens and turkeys had a light moult late in the year. This year all the turkeys and about 10% of the chickens have moulted for England. One healthy bird lost about 60% of her feathers in the course of five days. The others didn't peck her and she's now covered in quills. When they peck birds generally go for the parson's nose, neck or back. They quickly pick up on any bird that's below par. I generally take the pecker out and put her somewhere else for a week. When reintroduced she'll be bottom of the pecking order.
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Yep, some of mine are in heavy moults too. Not too late for it to be a moult.
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Many thanks to you all. That's very reassuring. She isn't running away from any of the others so it must just be a late moult. :thumbsup: