Carol's Chickens

Recently both my boys and their girlfriends paid us and the chooks a visit. They know the problem I have with the girls plucking each other but all agreed that the girls look happy and healthy albeit scruffy and bare and suggested that I should stop worrying about it. They pointed out that although it’s bothering me it’s not bothering the girls.

There is no drawing of blood and they are gentle about plucking the feathers. I see them dust bathing together while plucking each other. They don’t understand why this is undesirable.

My eldest said that the girls run is amazing and looks like a children’s play area and that there really is nothing else I can do to stop this apart from moving in with the girls full time! He also said that they will have to stop when they have no feathers left at all, very reassuring!

All our visitors have said they can see how attached to me the girls are as they follow me around and jump on me whenever they can and all our visitors are impressed with our set up.

So can I just accept this and stop worrying about it? I keep saying that there is nothing else I can do so I will just let them get on with it and try to accept that they are healthy and happy as they are. But then I go back in to them and see them even more bare and more feathers in the run and I can’t help feeling distressed about this. I am trying to accept it but it’s so frustrating.

I am continuing to do all I can to keep them occupied and I will use the water spray whenever I catch them but they do tend to stop when I go in.

I bought a pack of frozen corn on the cob today and am going to hang one at the top of the ladder each morning to give them something to peck at as well as the cabbage.

I also bought a mint plant today for the run, as it was only a pound, so cheap enough if it doesn’t survive.  I have always kept mint in a pot and never in the garden because it so invasive but that would make it perfect for the girls run (it can spread as much as it likes in there if it gets a chance!).

The very small mint plant

I surrounded it with cobbles to protect the roots then put more soil and wood chip over the cobbles.

Taking a look at the mint

The girls soon came to investigate. I decided to leave them with it for a while then go back and see if it had all gone yet.

Dotty’s poor bare neck and head

When I went back Dotty was pecking at a slice of melon so I took this to show how bad her neck is looking. I find it so upsetting to see her looking like this.

Bluebell jumps from the log to the block of wood

Bluebell often stands on the log but I haven’t managed to get a photo of her. Just as I took this she jumped across but I quite liked the action shot.

All three check out the mint

They suddenly remembered the mint and went back for a closer look. They are all three so together!

Pecking at the mint

They all had a peck of the mint and I am sure it won’t last long but I am hoping that the root will survive and it will keep coming back. Anyone who has ever tried to get rid of mint will know how hardy it is so hopefully it will survive.

So do I accept the plucking? I don’t have much choice but it is driving me to distraction!! I also think in future when I stop constantly going on about this, anyone new to read this will see photos of my girls and think they look very uncared for when actually they are very spoiled girls. It doesn’t really matter though what anyone else thinks it’s only me that is going crazy with this. I wish I could stop them but I am all out of ideas!

As a final little foot note to this post I have just noticed that this is my two hundredth post in my ten months of chicken keeping. I hope I haven’t been too negative lately because I can’t stress enough how much I love these girls.

Yesterday I cleaned out the chicken coop and decided to give the girls the pine shavings to scratch in, they have been thoroughly poop picked every day. Firstly I emptied the nest box in a heap.

A heap of pine shavings

The girls start scratching

They are getting them spread around

Then I emptied the shavings from the coop into a cardboard box.

This is as near as Bluebell got to the box

I moved the box across to the other side of the run.

Bluebell is the first to take a look

This is as close as we are going to get

Bluebell plucks up the courage to look inside

Dotty joins in

All three investigate

I am giving them as many things as possible to keep them occupied but it’s not helping with the feather plucking. It was a lovely sunny day and when I went in later Dotty was either sat in the sun or in a dust bath and Pepper was settled down beside her gently plucking feathers from her neck. I told her off and she looks at me as if to ask what my problem is. I reached for the water spray but it was too late.

I picked up about six feathers from the run, one was Bluebells and the rest were Dotty’s. I really am at my wits end with this.

The chooks now prefer their cabbage from the ladder than on the ground. They have also been enjoying corn on the cob from there too. It’s probably because it is hanging so that they can pull at it. I have realized that they love to peck at the corn cob long after the corn has gone and I now leave it in with them all day until it is completely smooth.

It now takes two of us to tie the cabbage because as soon as I go to the ladder the girls are up to the top in a flash and before I can run round the other side to secure the wire they have pulled the cabbage down. They really seem to enjoy the ladder and go back to it throughout the day until all that is left of the cabbage is the stalk.

I am joining you two at the top of the ladder

Now we can all peck at the cabbage

There’s not really enough room for all three of us

Okay, one of us needs to step down

It gets crowded with all three of them at the top and they seem to take it turns for one of them to go underneath the ladder and pick up all the bits that get dropped.

I thought we may have turned a corner with this but sadly it’s still happening. Last weekend we had a couple of sunny days for the first time in a while and I spent a lot of time in with the girls which seemed to stop the feather pulling. They know I don’t want them to do this as I tell them off when I catch them, so they don’t do it while I am in there, therefore this may be why it appeared much better last weekend. The problem is I can’t be in there all the time (much as I would like to be!) and I can’t use the water spray to deter them as I only see them doing it at a distance and they stop when I reach them.

I know it’s not lack of protein as I am giving them plenty, and they are not eating the feathers so I am picking them up from the run. They are happy and healthy as they have bright red combs and are all three laying an egg nearly every day.

I really believe that it was the stress of losing Treacle that was the trigger to this behaviour as they had all four been together since they were a month old. Treacle was top hen and a really good leader, she stopped Dotty bullying Bluebell and kept peace and harmony in the flock. Treacle was ill for three weeks then had to be put to sleep. There was never any feather pulling until we lost Treacle and I think the stress of their loss was the start of this behaviour which has now become a habit and a chickens habits are really hard to break.

My friend Jackie has recently written a post on her blog about this same subject. She has just been through a similar experience and from the comments on her post about this subject it seems that others have experienced this too. However this doesn’t help with how to cure the problem.

We tried a different anti-peck spray this week This one didn’t smell bad like the last one but was supposed to taste bad. The instructions said to spray them all which we did and when I went up to them a short while later they were still doing it.

My husband suggested putting vasaline on the feathers around Dotty’s neck to see if that would stop it. Poor Dotty was trying to preen it off herself and they are all still feather pulling so that too was a failure.

Dotty’s bare neck

Dotty’s bare patch on her head

Dotty’s bare head

I feel so sorry for Dotty as she is having her feathers pulled from her neck and now her head as well as her bottom. It’s such a shame as it is really spoiling her looks, my husband says she is beginning to look like a turkey! The photos don’t really show how bad she looks.

Assorted bottoms

Dotty on the right has a small bare patch on her bottom, Bluebell in the middle has a lovely fluffy, untouched bottom, Pepper on the left has big bare patch on her bottom.

I have followed advice from the “Down the Lane” chicken forum and put in loads of new things to keep the girl’s entertained but the trouble is it is after play time or feed time, when they sit together preening that they are pulling out each others feathers. It seems to have become part of their preening routine.

Another bit of advice I received was that their feeder should be at shoulder height for ease of access. This was something I had intended to address when I first had the girls but as they seem to like to flick their pellets out and eat them from the floor, I left them to it. The feeder is on the covered patio area which is clean and dry and I sweep up each evening so it’s not been a problem. However I am willing to take on board any advice so have been looking for something to stand the feeder on. At a garden centre today I found a shallow pot which upturned looked about the right height.

I took the pot in and as with anything new, the girls took fright and went on to the coop roof. They do this whenever anything new or scary looking goes in.

We will be safe from the scary pot if we sit up here

Feeder at the new raised height

Now it’s a matter of will they be afraid to approach the new scary looking feeder? They gave it a wide birth for a while.

Bluebell in a dust bath

Bluebell took herself off for a lovely dust bath while the other two girls watched her.

We like melon

Then the girls shared a slice of melon.

They have got the hang of it

Luckily after that they decided the new height feeder was okay after all.

I feel that I have done all I can to stop them feather pulling and just don’t know what else to do. I wonder how far they will go this, my husband wonders if we will end up with oven ready chickens. I find it so hard to see them doing this and feel so helpless about it.

I bought the girls some corn on the cob today but when I put it inside their gate they wouldn’t go near it. They always take time to get used to anything new so I put it on a skewer with a hook one end and hung it over their ladder. The girls now associate the ladder with food, I also hung some cabbage next to it to give them a little more encouragement.

Corn cob and cabbage hanging at the top of the ladder

Dotty is pecking at the cabbage but they haven’t worked out yet that they can eat the corn.

Bluebell is pecking at the corn cob

When I went back a bit later the cob was stripped on one side so they must have got the hang of it. I turned it round for them.

Dotty and Bluebell pecking at the corn cob

Pepper was in the nest box laying her egg so I hope she had managed to get some corn before these two girls stripped it.

I think we have finally turned the corner with the feather pulling. I didn’t find any feathers in the run again today and haven’t seen any feather pulling, hurrah! It’s also another sunny day which I am sure makes the girls feel happier as well as me.

Pepper and Bluebell both wanted to lay their egg at the same time today and after a bit of shouting about it they decided to share the nest box.

Sharing the nest box

While this was going on Dotty had the cabbage at the top of the ladder all to herself.

Dotty pecking at the cabbage

Dotty usually waits underneath the ladder to pick up the fallen bits and this is the first time I have seen her at the top of the ladder getting her own cabbage.

Dotty on top of the ladder

I took this wider shot to show that I have moved the log and dead plant to keep the girls interested.

Dotty inspects the log

The girls seemed to have lost interest in the dead plant so my husband suggested that I lay it on it’s side. Suddenly it became interesting again and the girls spent ages pecking at the soil around the roots.

All three girls pecking at the dead plant

I realise now that the run was probably too tidy and I need  to keep putting new stuff in for the girls. I will try to keep coming up with new playthings for them.

I talked about the recent feather pulling problem on the “Down The Lane” chicken forum and received some good ideas for ways to stop the girls being bored.

Yesterday was the first sunny day in a long time and I think that seemed to help the girls feel better as this morning was the first morning that I didn’t find any feathers in the run. I haven’t seen any feather pulling today either, however I decided to carry out as many of the boredom busting ideas as I could.

First my husband dug out a dead plant ( a thyme bush) and we put that in the run for the girls, then my husband walked round to the strip of woodland behind our garden to see if he could find a log for them.

I put in an upturned plant pot that they could stand on, it’s not very big but was the only spare one we had.

My husband then put a bit of wire through a cabbage and fixed it above the top rung of the ladder and threw in a few dandelions too.

Pecking at the dead plant

Oddly enough the girls loved the dead plant. They spent ages pecking and scratching at the soil around it. I thought it would also give them something else to hide behind. I wouldn’t have thought of putting in a dead plant but it’s great because they can’t damage it, well done hubby!

Investigating the log

Bluebell is our most inquisitive girl so was first to investigate the log closely followed by Dotty.

Investigating the pot

Bluebell was also first to check out the pot but I haven’t seen any of the girls stand on it yet. I will change this for a bigger pot when I have one.

A wider shot to show all the new things in the run

Pepper and Dotty pecking at the cabbage from the top of the ladder

Bluebell pecking at the cabbage

A short while later the cabbage is almost gone and Dotty is under the ladder picking up any bits that drop.

I went back a little while later and all that was left was the cabbage stalk. Next time I am shopping I will get the girls some corn on the cob to peck at. Thank you “Laners” for all your helpful ideas. The girls looked like they had a fun day.

I had a few jobs that I wanted to do in the chicken run today. First I removed the two shrubs in big pots as the girls have stripped them of most of the leaves in a week. I then planted the dog wood shrub that I bought yesterday. First I dug a hole twice as big as the pot and while doing this found some worms for the girls as I was digging deeper than usual. The girls enjoyed helping by eating worms and scratching through the freshly dug soil.

My next job was to move the dry dust bath as it’s on the patio area and makes everything there really dusty.

The dry dust bath in it’s original position

Once I had moved the dust bath, I had a bit of a spring clean and got rid of as much dust from the fence and storage cabinet as I could.

I emptied out the ash that I had been using and refilled it with sand. The reason for this is that I have read that ash is good for a dry dust bath as long as it stays dry but if it gets wet the lye may leach out and burn the chickens feathers making them ragged. As it’s now going outside and could get wet it’s safest to use sand and I also mixed in a cup of D.E.

The new shrub and repositioned dry dust bath

The dust bath is under the umbrella so that should help keep it dry even when the plastic cover is removed from the roof, that is if we ever have consistent dry weather.

The girls scratch around the new shrub

Once my jobs were completed I thought I would try the girls with the chicken toy again.

Bluebell pecking at the chicken toy

Bluebell is still the only one of the three to cotton on to the sunflower hearts in the toy. She can see them inside the yellow ball and some of her pecks reward her with some. Dotty watched cautiously but wasn’t brave enough to try and Pepper keeps well out of it’s way.

I went back later and it was in the garden area so one of the girls (probably Bluebell) had rolled it and I am sure there are less seeds in it now.

I have just been out to the girls again and found that they had scratched the soil from the roots of the new shrub. I should have realized that damp loose soil would be too tempting for scratching in. I have now put a ring of cobble stones over the roots.

The new shrub now has a ring of stones around it

I should know better by now, I had forgotten how the girls scratch at the roots of anything they can. I am hoping this will offer protection while the plant gets established.

Today the bare patch on Dotty’s neck has got wider. She is also missing feathers around her head now and as well as from her bottom she is missing feathers under her wing. I feel so sorry for her, she is looking really tatty with lots of loose feathers around her bare neck and head.

Dotty’s worsening bare neck

Somehow the photo doesn’t show how bad she really looks.

Dotty’s bare neck

She has had more feathers plucked from her since yesterday and I am beginning to think that the anti-pecking spray really isn’t working. However I was discussing this with my sons girlfriend a few days ago and she suggested that if it’s the smell that is supposed to put them off and they have all been sprayed (which they have) then maybe they have just got used it. Maybe they therefore need to be sprayed one at a time.

I thought she could have a point as I have got used to the smell now too and the coop and nest box smell of it so they are surrounded by the smell. In desperation we sprayed Dotty again today and sprayed her neck with the blue spray as well, in an attempt to try anything just in case it works. I don’t hold out too much hope but feel that I have to try.

I feel so sorry for Dotty as she looks so shabby and has to put up with the smelly spray. I hate to keep doing this to her but can’t bare to see her getting gradually plucked.

Dotty after spraying

I really hope this stops the feather plucking because I don’t know what else I can do.

The plant in the pot behind Dotty is being stripped of it’s leaves by the girls. The two plants in pots have been in less than a week but I have decided to take them back out at the weekend to allow them to recover.

I found a shrub called dogwood at our local D.I.Y. store, which was reasonably priced and it says it is fast growing. It’s branches are quite upright so I think it may be able to withstand the girls. It has white blossoms in early summer and purple berries in late summer so I checked that it wasn’t poisonous to chickens before buying it. Planting it is another job for the weekend.

Dotty also climbed the ladder today for the first time.

Dotty’s first climb on the ladder

All the girls have now got used to the ladder. When I clean under it in the morning Bluebell jumps on to it so that she is on eye level with me.

I bought another tree support to add some extra rungs to the girls ladder and luckily for me my lovely husband cut and added them straight away.

The ladder with some extra rungs added

I couldn’t wait to try it out so put some dried meal worms at the top of the ladder. I soon realised that the girls couldn’t see these from below so had to add a few grapes once more. That got an instant reaction from Pepper.

Pepper didn’t waste any time going straight to the top of the ladder

Bluebell soon joined Pepper on the ladder

The rungs are now much easier to walk on

I am really pleased with this improvement to the ladder and hope the girls will start to use it for perching or playing on. Dotty hasn’t shown any interest yet but she is always the one to take the easiest path. Dotty simply picked up any grapes that the other two girls knocked down rather than go and get them herself.

I have noticed this a lot with Dotty. When I give the girls grapes Dotty always waits for Pepper to peck a grape apart, then tries to take it from her rather than peck her own grape apart. I would say she is lazy but I am not sure that is the way of a chicken. I think it is just that she always looks for the short cut. This is part of Dotty’s personality.

It will be interesting to see if the girls use the ladder without something to entice them on to it. I will be ready with my camera if they do.