Pros and Cons of Pinless Peepers

[Barnette]

I've heard of "pinless peepers" several times on BYC, but I'm not even entirely sure what they are and what benefits they provide. Could someone explain them and their pros/cons?

 

[FrostRanger]

Pinless peepers are used to address bullying issues. They should not be used as a first resort (flock management should always be the first thing one does to address bullying) but they can be helpful in particularly persistent cases of bullying. Here's a video that briefly explains them

If there's no bullying going on in your flock, you don't need them. If there is bullying, you still probably don't need them yet and there's other ways you should attempt to address the situation first before you try them, if other measures fail, then try the peepers, if finally those don't work, some decisions need to be made about what birds need to be rehomed or culled

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Pinless Peepers helps stop cannibalism, excess pecking, egg eating, and plucking. Basically, instead of going the painful route of debeaking your birds, you put these on their faces. As a con, you should only allow them to wear them for two weeks, which might not be long enough to break the habit. Also, they don't always fully work, just like debeaking doesn’t either. Depending on the bird, the Peepers can enlarge the hen's nostrils (or cause blockage if not properly taken care of) and may leave marks on the beak where it rubbed against, but that's temporary for the most part.

In the end, if you’re having a huge problem with one of your birds (example, she's eating all her friends), then there might be an issue that the Pinless Peepers might not help with. Some things that shouldn't be expected for the Pinless Peepers to completely take care of are:

• Egg eating: This may be cause of not enough calcium in the flocks' diet, resulting in either soft shells or hens eating eggs for the calcium primarily.
• Plucking: This may be caused from not enough protein in their diet or boredom.
• Excess pecking: This may be a result of boredom, or in cases of an individual bird getting overly pecked, a sign of illness.
• Cannibalism: This may be due to lack of food, space, or from boredom.

The Pinless Peepers are meant to stop habits, but after reading the list above, always be sure that there's not other factors occurring. Sometimes, the Pinless Peepers are needed to help stop a habit that formed from those factors after taking care of those factors. Please always ensure your flock is getting the proper diet, has enough space and entertainment, and is healthy in every way possible. Also note, that some cases (such as with cannibalism), there might not be anything that could stop their habits, and if they're becoming a life risk to your flock, then they should be removed.

If you're interested in getting your flock Pinless Peepers and would like to know how to put them on, feel free to check this article out here: How To Apply Pinless Peepers

 

[tripletfeb]

I had pinless peepers on two of my girls years ago. One girl had them on for over a year. They stop the chicken from seeing straight in front of them so they do work in reducing or stopping the bullying. They can still see to eat and drink and peck around. It was a great solution for me as I wasn't willing to give up a hen who was a good layer. Here is Popcorn with her fancy glasses

 

[Mrs. K]

Lacyduckwing - gives very good advice.

They seem to work best in small flocks. But if the next option is culling a bird, these are a reasonable alternative.

 

[Evadig]

I had three hens picking on another, so I put the glasses on them. It didn’t keep them from bullying the hen, but it deterred them enough for her feathers to grow back. It was a temporary solution until I could move the bullied hen into another flock.

Pictures just to prove they can still go about their lives…

 

[Barnette]

Thanks so much for your replies! You are all so helpful