How to Stop Chickens From Feather Picking

If your chickens are plucking each others feathers out, there are several things you can do. If the behavior is not stopped it can lead to serious damage or even death.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• More space
• A bale of hay
• Cabbage on a string
• A source of animal protein
• Salt

1. Feather “picking” is generally caused by one of several factors: boredom, lack of space, or dietary deficiency.

2. 
    
   Chickens love being outside

   Chickens need adequate room to roam and things to do. Some breeds stand confinement better than others, but all need room to run around and things to peck and scratch at. If they are not given things to peck at outside, they may turn on each other and start plucking feathers from their flockmates. Feathers are tasty, and have a certain amount of protein. Once picking starts, it can escalate into pecking, with the victim winding up bloody, injured, and possibly even dead.

3. The first thing to do is to give your birds room to roam. Ideally this means outside in a grassy area where they can chase bugs and scratch in the dirt. But even a closed pen will work as long as it’s big enough. You will read that 4 square feet per bird is enough space, but really, that’s just for at night when they’re at roost. Figure at least twice that for a bird that will be content during the day.

4. 
    
   Some birds are kept in cages, which is not ideal

   If your birds must be confined, give them something to play with. A cabbage hung from a string, a bale of hay to rip up (alfalfa is best), some sort of tasty treat that will distract them works best.

5. As well, you must look at what you are feeding your flock. Chickens that do not get adequate amounts of animal protein in their diets will find it elsewhere, sometimes by eating eggs, sometimes by eating each other! Vegetarian chicken feeds are generally not adequate for most breeds, especially those birds who cannot range for bugs and mice and other sources of protein. Chickens are not vegetarians, they are omnivores, and as such need animal proteins (specifically natural sources of the amino acids lysine and methionine) to be healthy.

6. 
    
   Dry cat food

   If you can’t find a chicken feed that has animal protein in it, you can supplement in a number of ways, including dry cat food with at least 28% protein (about a ¼ cup full per bird per day), cooked ground beef, or fish meal (note that too much fish meal will flavor the eggs, so use it sparingly.)

7. If your birds must be confined for some reason, lowering the lights will sometimes help with picking, as will switching to a red light source. But confinement is not ideal.

8. 
    
   Table salt for the Salt Cure

   And if all else fails, you can use the Salt Cure outlined in the Wisconsin Experiment Station Bulletin #455. In it we are told to put 1 tablespoon of salt per gallon of water in the flocks water for just one morning. Replace with fresh water in the afternoon. Repeat in three days. This, plus the other remedies above should cure all feather picking.

Tips & Warnings

• When planning living quarters for your birds, give yourself twice as much space as you think you’ll need, you won’t regret it!
• Treat wounded birds with Pine Tar, Black Salve, or Blu-Kote.
• Remember not to use too much fish meal, as it can make eggs taste fishy.

Resources

• Poultryman Supply for Wound Care

[MizGreenJeans]

on 9/25/2009 Thank you for taking the time to read my article How to Stop Chickens From Feather Picking.