Missing feathers

[The chicken nurd]

So I have a hen who is very clearly the bottom of the pecking order and missing quite a few of her wing and tail feathers although otherwise she’s not badly injured but she’s been in the flock over a year and still is pretty badly picked on my question is would it do any good to separate her so she has a chance to heal or would that just cause more problems and are there any other ideas on how I could help her
Thanks in advance
(I’ll post pictures in the morning)

 

[DobieLover]

Well, without the pictures it's kind of hard to assess just how severe her injuries are. But you didn't say that they were injuring her just that she had some feathers missing. If you've had her over a year she could be in the process of molting. Another reason for posting pictures.
How many square feet does your coop have?
How many square feet does the run have?
How many birds are in the space?
What else is in the run for enrichment?

 

[Matejka]

I would try separating to aggressive bird(s). Lower them in the pecking order, before I tried taking the lowest bird.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I agree with Dobie, photos could help. My experience with feather pecking is very limited, just haven't seen much at all. What little I've seen has not been the large wing or tail feathers, but the small feathers on the neck or maybe the vent area. I don't have the decorative breeds with the strange feathering and I also have lots of room, either of these may affect that. I'd be interested if those that have seen feather pecking see them taking off those larger feathers. We all see different things.

would it do any good to separate her so she has a chance to heal or would that just cause more problems

It sounds like she is not injured, just missing feathers. If the entire feather is gone they should grow back before too long. If even a bit of the shaft is left in there that feather will not grow back until she molts. So if you mean grow her feathers back when you say heal, she might or might not before the molt.

It is suspicious that she is the lowest ranking. Is she the only one missing feathers? Have you seen others pulling her feathers? In situations like this I'm more inclined to isolate the aggressor than the victim, but sometimes the victim is the problem.

I try to solve these things for the safety and peace of the flock instead of only one flock member. If you remove the aggressor and the victim is still a victim, then the victim might be the problem. If you remove the victim and the problem continues then the aggressor is the problem. It's not always easy to figure out.

If you remove the victim for a while and then put her back, it can be like she is starting integration. If you take the aggressor out for a while, she has to work her way back into the pecking order. That may keep her busy enough that she stops that behavior. I have changed behaviors by isolating chickens before, sometimes the aggressor sometimes the victim. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Probably worth a try, and I'd start with the aggressor if you can identify one.

All this is assuming that feather picking is your problem.

 

[The chicken nurd]

Thanks for the replies
I can’t remember the exact dimensions of my coop just that is big enough for 15 or so birds
My run in 12x14 and I currently have 14 birds in my flock
Plus they free range most of the day
She is not the only bird missing feathers but she’s missing the most feathers
I’ve seen most of my over birds pick on her at some point so no one particular is going after her
Here’s some pictures

 

[The chicken nurd]

Any more ideas

 

[aart]

I can’t remember the exact dimensions

Got a tape measure?