Feather picking

[Dagmar101]

I am wondering if anyone has any experience / advice on a feather picking issue. I have 6 chickens, 4 of them are 6 months old and the other 2 are 4 years old. 2 of the young chickens are Salmon Faverolles (SF), one of them has (had) the typical beard while the other one never had those extra feathers. The SF without the beard feathers has starting to pick all of the other SF's beard feather (note that she does not otherwise appear to pick any other feathers). How should I deal with this issue? Thanks!

 

[nuthatched]

What do you feed them and how big of a space for they live in? You might need to separate the picker.

 

[Dagmar101]

What do you feed them and how big of a space for they live in? You might need to separate the picker.

Thanks for the reply. They get Purina Layer pellets, crushed egg shells, daily fresh water, veggie and fruit scraps from the kitchen and mealworms for treats. The chicken coop with an attached run is designed for 6 - 8 chickens and there are a number of roosts and a good size dust bath. The hens are also allowed to free range for about 1 hour / day.

 

[nuthatched]

Thanks for the reply. They get Purina Layer pellets, crushed egg shells, daily fresh water, veggie and fruit scraps from the kitchen and mealworms for treats. The chicken coop with an attached run is designed for 6 - 8 chickens and there are a number of roosts and a good size dust bath. The hens are also allowed to free range for about 1 hour / day.

Great, maybe try a higher protein feed like chick feed. How big is a coop 'designed for 6-8 chickens'? Or it could be that the picker is being a jerk.

 

[Dagmar101]

The run is 5 ft wide, 10 fee long and 6 ft high. The coop is 3 ft off the ground and 3 by 3 ft. They always sleep on the outdoor roosts, never in the coop.

 

[nuthatched]

Sound good, I would say it's either the feed or the hen being difficult.

 

[Dagmar101]

Have some grower feed left so while switch / blend with the layer pellets. Thanks!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Birds with beards often get them groomed off. It's not the same as feather picking where a bird gets body feathers picked off and eaten, it's more overzealous grooming.

It doesn't hurt the de-bearded bird any, they just don't look as "pretty." The missing feathers will grow back in with their next molt (and then get groomed out again). I don't know of any way to permanently stop the behavior.