Author Topic: Feather pecking (Read 3006 times)

Chrisnut · « **on:** January 03, 2014, 07:55:24 pm »

Hi all ....

We have one maran hen point of lay that doesnt seem to have her tail feathers due to pecking..... the pecking is the other hens and occasionally they make her bleed.... we have sprayed her with antipeck spray but it doesnt seem to stop the other hens all day .... would it be advisable to separate her from the other hens to give her a chance to grow her feathers

HesterF · « **Reply #1 on:** January 03, 2014, 08:12:37 pm »

I'll be watching with interest because I've got the same problem but with a Light Sussex. I had a juggle round of pens so I took four high ranking hens out of the 'layers' pen to put into breeding pens and she went in on her own. The other hens don't seem too bad with her but the cockerel has been awful to her. I've no idea why, she seems to be suitably subservient to him. She tends to lay low in the hen house while they all congregate in goose shed (constant rain means an outdoor life doesn't appeal to any of them) but I've started to wonder whether I need to bring in a couple more newbies to make it easier on her (the previous bottom hen is now much happier with life and has been allowed into the goose shed).

darkbrowneggs · « **Reply #2 on:** January 04, 2014, 06:06:42 am »

Hens like blood and meaty things. The new "blood" feathers coming through will be very tasty and are easy to pull, Once they have developed a taste for them it can be hard to stop

I would never generally introduce one new bird to an established pen unless it was much larger or feistier than the resident hens. Its alwasy easier to do it the other way round. Put the newbies in a pen, then after they have settled for a few days add the others.

All of this is just advice as hens all have their own character and you will need to modify what you do according to their behaviour. But I would certainly take her out until her tail feathers are there and pretty well complete, then see if you can put the others into her pen

This is the reason that commercial growers adopt the all in all out policy. Birds reared together cause far fewer problems

Chrisnut · « **Reply #3 on:** January 04, 2014, 08:06:23 am »

Thx DARKBROWNEGGS....

unfortunately we have built up our flock over a period of months mainly due to cost, some birds being older than others but most are point of lay...... we believe this one bird had slight pecking when we got her which probably enticed the other birds to continue.... we have no hierachy issues and have a very large Handsome Cockerel who keeps all the birds under control and in the whole they all get on well.... we have a very mixed flock including light sussex, marans, legbars, black rocks and warrens. We have recently purchased two gorgeous pure breed Buff orpington hens along with a young Buff cockerel who are housed separately as we intend to breed from those and dont want cockerels fighting.

We will follow your advise and remove the young maran and bring her home to live alongside our 2 ducks that live in our garden, hopefully her feathers will come on quickly and she can be reintroduced.

thx again for your advise , as i posted in my previous topic we are new to this and fascinated by the life of chickens all help gratefully received.

darkbrowneggs · « **Reply #4 on:** January 04, 2014, 02:58:49 pm »

I have read that feather pecking is the result of the victim not reacting in the correct manner, so I would never breed from something which had been pecked, but also I would try to avoid breeding from something which had a propensity to peck. So if your cockerel is behaving inappropriately it may be better to replace him.

Incidentally you can try Stockholm Tar which is slightly better than purple spay as it smells and presumably tastes disgusting plus it is black and thick so covers any redness and also has healing properties. Get a bit of stick to apply it and use rubber gloves.

I was trying to member the name first thing this morning but for some reason had Wrights Coal Tar in my memory and the other name wouldnt come. Do they still make Wrights Coal Tar Soap. My grandmother always had that or Pears or Imperial Leather.

Marches Farmer · « **Reply #5 on:** January 04, 2014, 05:30:51 pm »

It might be worth observing the hens for a while - it will almost always be the dominant one that starts the pecking. If you remove her for a few weeks she'll be at the bottom of the pecking order when she's returned to the group - and serve her right!

HesterF · « **Reply #6 on:** January 04, 2014, 10:35:26 pm »

Christnut, you could try putting your hen in with the Orpingtons if you can tell her eggs from theirs. Orps are so laid back normally, they might take to her better. I've had to bring my hen in to give her a break and feed her up - her neck is quite damaged. I think my next step is cockerel into the pot and another cockerel in at the same time as she goes back, followed by fingers crossed.

H