The good news is that Red is back in lay again. She laid today on the third day after her last egg. We will be having her eggs for our weekend breakfast.
The bad news is that Autumn is back to pecking her legs and feet. She is even worse than before. It is frustrating because she stops for a while then starts up again.
Autumn started doing this again a week ago. I have repeatedly sprayed her for scaly mite and feel sure she doesn’t have them. There is no sign of them, no grey residue. I think she has just formed a habit of pecking at her scales. For the past week she hasn’t left her feet alone. She has pecked them to the stage where she was limping and she spent all her time on the perch over the hatch in the run and was looking miserable.
This morning Autumn escalated the pecking. She was stood on one of the nest boxes pecking at her feet. Next time I checked on her she was sitting on the perch in the chicken shed. Her feet were bleeding. There was a lump of scales on the nest box that she had picked off.
Autumn has also started to moult which seems very late in the year and I had begun to think she would miss moulting. I am constantly spraying her wounds with the healing and skin repair spray but nothing is going to help if she keeps doing this. We have never had a girl self destruct before and we really think this may end with us losing her.
Her feet are such a mess and she has also pecked off a strip at the back of her leg.
I ended up leaving Autumn in the chicken shed because I felt she was less likely to peck in there, although I can’t be entirely sure and at least her feet would stay clean. Her feet are much more vulnerable to dirt getting in the wounds and I worry about infection.
I don’t think Autumn is eating properly either. She is eating the treats but I haven’t seen her go to the pellets and her poops are sloppy and white.
Later I sprayed Autumn’s feet again and she came out of the chicken shed. I gave her sunflower hearts, chopped tomato and mash. I will do all I can to keep her eating. I have also put vitamins in the water.
As always I have done loads of research on the internet on this. Whatever chicken problem we have other people have too. I found a few people that have the same issue. They said after treating for scaly mite one of their girls started doing this and the photos showed the same as Autumn.
They also said the bird no longer had mites and would stop pecking for a while and then start up again. They had, like me, tried all the different sprays to no avail.
This is disheartening because I am not sure there is a solution. I know from the past that once a girl gets a habit it can be impossible to break.
I really don’t know how this is going to end. If she would just stop pecking she would heal and be okay. If she won’t stop pecking she may go down hill to the extent where she will have to be put to sleep. Usually when there is a problem it can be treated but this isn’t something that can be treated. I am so saddened by this situation.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
Hi Carol. I’m sorry to hear about Autumn. It really is hard to take when one of the girls is injuring themselves and it feels like there’s nothing you can do about it.
I can’t remember if I’ve told you about my Camilla before. She pulls her ‘trouser’ feathers out all year round making her legs red and sore looking, but that is not the worst thing ever, just looks sore. However, when she’s moulting, she starts to pull out ALL her feathers as they start to grow. I don’t know whether they really itch as they come through, whether she likes the taste of her new feathers (she eats them) or, and this is what I actually think, she has some sort of OCD. She never plucks feathers from any of the others even though she’s near the top of the pecking order, just her own. Every year I leave her for a few weeks and think ‘maybe it’ll be ok this year’ and then every year I end up having to put a bumpa bit on her for a few weeks so she can’t pull her feathers out while they’re growing. I absolutely hate doing it because I know she doesn’t like it, but it does work 🙁 Could you try the same with Autumn to try to break the habit?
You hadn’t told me about Camilla before. That is awful. The only saving grace for us both is that they are only doing it to themselves and not to the other girls which would be unbearable. I did actually consider a bumpa bit but it scares me. I know you have to fit it into their nostrils which I am scared of doing. I have also read of cases where someone has fitted it and once it’s taken off they resume the behaviour. Autumn already stopped the behaviour for a while and then started up again. It’s something to think about though. I am at my wits end with this at the moment.
So sorry to hear this, Carol. I have not experienced this and have nothing to suggest. I’ll ask my father when I visit later today = he may have come across it in his decades of poultry keeping. It may well be the moult which has prompted this resurgence, as they tend to replace their leg scales at the same time. Might having her beak clipped help? From what you say, she doesn’t sound in the best of condition – but that’s not unusual during moulting. Very difficult scenario.
Autumn is very thin. While picking her up to spray her feet I could feel her breast bone and she is so light. I am really unsure that she is going to come through this. Thank you for offering to ask your father, any advice welcome.
It is all very sad, I know you will be worrying about it all the time. I wonder if the vet could put some kind of bandage on her legs.
It is so sad. I have done lots of research and they say not to bandage the legs as it’s really difficult to get it snug enough not to get pecked off, caught up or get dirt in making things worse but if too tight it can cut the circulation and they can lose toes or even the foot. It would also need changing daily and is difficult to do. So I discounted that idea. I have done so much research on this that I really don’t think a vet can add anything.
Hi, Carol
My dad has never had this problem, so cannot proffer any advice – sorry, just thought it worth a try. His immediate comment was he’d be afraid things would move to pecking others’ legs. Sorry that Autumn seems less than good in general health.
We are going to London in the morning, principally to visit our youngest son who lives in Tower Hamlets, but no doubt other activities will be planned! I’ll try and log in on my phone whilst away.
Thank you for asking anyway. I was going to do another post over the next few days. I am now throwing everything at her. I started last night on scaly mite spray again and will do so every three days for three or four weeks. Tonight I slavered her legs and feet in vaseline and will do this every second day and leave third day alone and repeat. She seemed improved today so I am hopeful. I am also giving mash every day to get her eating and will give fish tomorrow. She is dropping an explosion of feathers all day and overnight. Late moult but big time now. Luckily she hasn’t shown any interest in the other girls. I am giving it my best shot.