# Feather pulling



## mge501 (Sep 18, 2020)

Hello everyone, newbie chicken keepers here in Yorkshire, UK, who could do with a bit of support. We've had our four since the spring and they are quite happy - laying every day, eating, living together peacefully (!) and slowly getting tamer. However we have one hen who appears to be pulling her own feathers. I think she's doing it to herself as I've never seen another hen bullying her.

All the feathers are gone from her bottom down to between her legs, as well as some from the top of her tail. Does this sound self inflicted? She's done it before - a couple of months ago - but they all grew back and I put it down to the stress of moving home and starting to lay. She is otherwise totally cheerful, and none of the others are at all affected. 

So, opinions? Self inflicted, bullying, mites, moulting? Should I do anything or just keep an eye and hope it improves? Any suggestions much appreciated!


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I'm not leaning to self inflicted because of the location. I am leaning to another doing it. 

What are their digs like? Do they have plenty of space? Do the free range at all?

If another is doing it it's usually from boredom. Too tight spaces, nothing interesting to do usually are the causes. 

You can put Blukote on the one bird, providing you have it in the UK, to try to keep the feather pulling from happening.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Is the skin pink or red?


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

Welcome to the Forum! Do what Robin suggested. If you can give us a description of their coop, nesting boxes and run that would be helpful.


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## mge501 (Sep 18, 2020)

Thank you both - having carried on keeping an eye on them I think it's bullying. I've noticed one of the hens having a pop at the others, particularly this poor slightly naked one. The skin is pink rather than red; I'm not overly concerned from a first aid POV but it can't be very nice for her. I will see whether it stops, and if not I'll look into spraying her with a wound dressing to stop it getting any worse. We don't have Blu-Kote in the UK but we have various similar things. 

They are in an enclosed shed and run, but they do have plenty of space, so I'm leaning towards a) one of the birds is a bit mean, and b) they might need more to play with. They've really enjoyed a bucket of windfall apples over the last week so I'll just make extra sure that they've got plenty to do. That said, even when they were scratching around eating apples, she was still having a sneaky peck at the other hens so maybe she's just trying to establish herself as the boss. We've only had them a few months so I wonder if maybe they haven't quite got the order sorted yet.

We're introducing two new ones at the weekend, from the same breeder, so hopefully that won't upset them all too much - I will spend some extra time sitting with a cup of coffee and watching them!


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

The color of the skin will keep them at it. If the skin is pink and not red it's still a draw. The idea behind Blukote is that it colors the skin blue, and everything else it touches, covering the irritated skin up. 

The feather puller is going to have to be pulled out and put somewhere all by itself because the behavior doesn't change if it isn't dealt with. 

A naked chicken in Winter is a bird that will suffer with the cold.


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## mge501 (Sep 18, 2020)

Hi all, thanks for you thoughts - I took the offending bird out a week ago before we introduced the two new ones. The new ones are slowly settling in with the original three, and Angry Chicken is living in her own little pen nearby. The bullying victim is improving and her feathers are growing back. I'm planning to leave Angry Chicken separate until I'm really confident that the other five have formed a group. Once that happens I'll have to reintroduce her somehow....that's a problem for another day though!


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

I have one area, it's a 10 by 40 run I use for a quarantine. But sometimes it's a time-out run for angry birds, bully birds or birds messing with someone else's nest.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Thank you so much for the update. 

There isn't much else that can be as frustrating as dealing with a bird that has a bad attitude. 

When she goes back she's liable to be the low bird for a time. This is bad to say but paybacks can be rough.


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## mge501 (Sep 18, 2020)

Yes, I'm not much looking forward to getting the aggressive one integrated again. But on the plus side, the other five seem to be starting to settle down and get on with each other. Although the two new Sussexes do insist on sleeping in the nest box - they don't seem very confident flapping up to the perches so I'm having to lift them up there every night, I feel very silly!


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Don't feel silly, you're not alone in that behavior. Or so many others when it comes to babying their birds.

So, meany being out of the picture has made things tons easier getting the newbies integrated. You know you could rehome her if she keeps up the bad behavior.


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## mge501 (Sep 18, 2020)

It's not so much babying them (they can sleep on the floor if they want!), the problem is that if they sleep in the nest boxes they also poop in there, all night - then when the older hens use the boxes to lay, the eggs get covered in poop. Yuck. So I'm trying to persuade them that nest boxes are not for sleeping!


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## mge501 (Sep 18, 2020)

I'll have to see how it goes getting the angry one reintegrated. If it doesn't work, we have friends with a bigger flock and she may have to go there. I think with more birds she'd be less likely to be a bully.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Some make the nest unavailable when they have the sleeping issue happening in them. 

One more thing for you to do at night, close off the nests until they figure out what the roosts are for. I guess you could try adding a roost just for them. The older birds might be telling them the roost they're using is theirs and they're not allowed.


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

Yes, the pecking order very much applies to the roosts, I have six and they all try to use the same one, high up on the left side of the coop.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Poultry Judge said:


> Yes, the pecking order very much applies to the roosts, I have six and they all try to use the same one, high up on the left side of the coop.


At least you know where to find them every time.


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

robin416 said:


> At least you know where to find them every time.


But it is ever so sad as those mean old hens won't let the Peafowl up there.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I had to set up two roosts for my Hamburg sisters. They hated each other. The one claimed the roost and double dared her sister to try to share it. I made the good sister a better roost all her own.


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