Testing a theory: are feather pecked chickens raised confined?

[azygous]

This is a worthy study. You're going to need for this thread to stick around for a long time to gather the data. I suggest you create a poll.

In my own flock, I've found feather picking as an issue seems to be fairly seasonal among the general flock, while there is one lone "serial" feather picker. Her name is Flo, and she's a four-year old EE. Her brain seems to be wired for feather picking as the urge never seems to leave her. It began when she was five months old. The flock is partially confined and gets free-range time every day. Their run is sand. They have scratch blocks to keep them from getting bored, yet they pick feathers from time time time in spite of all the mitigating I've tried to do. Currently, the behavior among the flock, Flo included, has gone into remission, as it has appeared to do toward the end of summer every year. You might ask when feather picking seems to be the heaviest and when the problem appears to go away. It would be interesting to see if others notice it as a seasonal issue.

I created a thread on this subject and it has been around fairly long. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/697052/i-think-i-found-a-miracle-cure-for-feather-picking If you read through it, you'll find the subject isn't all that cut and dried. Feather picking has many causes and probably no cure.

Personally, I think it's a lot like egg-eating. Some chickens discover the opportunity for it and it becomes a habit. Anything can trigger it. It's one of the most aggravating occurrences chicken folk have to deal with. My roosters have been the worst victims of it, standing there calmly while the hens stripped them of their proud plumage.

Oh how I wish there was a cure.

 

[sunflour]

This is a worthy study. You're going to need for this thread to stick around for a long time to gather the data. I suggest you create a poll.

In my own flock, I've found feather picking as an issue seems to be fairly seasonal among the general flock, while there is one lone "serial" feather picker. Her name is Flo, and she's a four-year old EE. Her brain seems to be wired for feather picking as the urge never seems to leave her. It began when she was five months old. The flock is partially confined and gets free-range time every day. Their run is sand. They have scratch blocks to keep them from getting bored, yet they pick feathers from time time time in spite of all the mitigating I've tried to do. Currently, the behavior among the flock, Flo included, has gone into remission, as it has appeared to do toward the end of summer every year. You might ask when feather picking seems to be the heaviest and when the problem appears to go away. It would be interesting to see if others notice it as a seasonal issue.

I created a thread on this subject and it has been around fairly long. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/697052/i-think-i-found-a-miracle-cure-for-feather-picking If you read through it, you'll find the subject isn't all that cut and dried. Feather picking has many causes and probably no cure.

Personally, I think it's a lot like egg-eating. Some chickens discover the opportunity for it and it becomes a habit. Anything can trigger it. It's one of the most aggravating occurrences chicken folk have to deal with. My roosters have been the worst victims of it, standing there calmly while the hens stripped them of their proud plumage.

Oh how I wish there was a cure.

Thank you for the input and for the link to your thread. I never found it in searches on the subject, guess 'cause I call it pecking and you title it picking. In my small flock it is truly one picker and not an aggressive issue. But she likes the backend fluff, so all but the picker have bare rear ends.

I think I'll drop my "study" and follow your thread.

Thanks again, for your reply.

 

[aart]

I'm always thinking about cause and effect, so understand your intentions, and have quite a bit of experience in designing and conducting experiments to prove or disprove theories. It's truly difficult to gather such data in the uncontrolled and highly varying situations as you will find here on the forum. There are many more factors than just 'confined' and 'free range' so a poll would not be an effective data collecting device either. Moreover we cannot see/understand all the stress factors that may apply to a chickens behaviors.

 

[sunflour]

I'm always thinking about cause and effect, so understand your intentions, and have quite a bit of experience in designing and conducting experiments to prove or disprove theories. It's truly difficult to gather such data in the uncontrolled and highly varying situations as you will find here on the forum. There are many more factors than just 'confined' and 'free range' so a poll would not be an effective data collecting device either. Moreover we cannot see/understand all the stress factors that may apply to a chickens behaviors.

I agree that's why I dropped the "study".

But did ya know CDC publishes facts based on telephone surveys?