Solitary chicken - need advice

[PurpleTree]

One of my girls, Squeak, has started almost constantly preening and tugging at the feathers in one area on her chest. She's been doing it for a few days now. I've picked her up and looked at the area on a number of occasions, I can't see any bugs and the skin doesn't look red. Although admittedly it's quite difficult to hold her at the right angle to have a good look - she's not keen on being held anyway. Today I noticed one of my other girls, Mash, having a little preen/tug at this area on Squeak. She doesn't seem to be overly preening any other area. I'm wondering if it's a boredom thing as they are in their run a lot of the day. I don't think she does it as much when she's out in the garden.

 

Anyone got any ideas?

 

Oh and she's still laying and doing all things chicken-y otherwise.

[Gamebird]

Chickens can feather peck out of boredom.

 

If that's the case then peckablocs can be a useful distraction and keep them occupied.

 

Have you checked thoroughly for lice? They are usually under the wings and in the vent area but can be all over.

 

It might be worth giving them an anti-mite dusting.

 

Hopefully some other omleteers will come along with some other suggestions.

[Jenstuds]

Question related to the last post - I've put in a peckablock in with my ex-batts following some pecking problems. But the chickens completely ignore it. They were the same with veg s"Ooops, word censored!"s until I mixed it with their mash but can't really do this with a pecka-block. Any ideas as I'm sure they'd enjoy it when they got started?

Thanks

Jenny

[Gamebird]

It did take my chickens a while to work out that it was a tasty treat.

 

Look here for some other stories.

[PurpleTree]

So has anyone else got any ideas regarding my original question?

[LJ's Chooks]

Hi purple tree... it may be lice, check them over thoroughly.... they are tiny, so part the feathers and look really closely...

 

Otherwise it may be boredom... i bend a coat hanger and hang it on a length of chain with a cabbage scured on it... i hang it above their sun deck so they have to stretch or jump to reach it. You could also put a dust bath in their run.... a tub trug with sand and DE for them would also help if it is lice issues.

 

Mine were never interested in pekka blocks untill it rained and made them fall to pieces...!

 

Try puttin branches for them to jump to.... lots of ideas, hope it helps

[Carol U]

Hi Purple Tree,

It's just possible that she's feeling a bit broody. Sometimes they pluck out breast feathers prior to sitting on eggs, so that the part touching the eggs is next to the skin, therefore warmer. Is she lurking around the nestbox more than usual or going off by herself more? Not much you can do at this stage except encourage her to do other things. If it gets worse, I know there are 'stickies' on here somewhere about dealing with broodys. Good luck.

[PurpleTree]

Thanks for the replies. I've tried putting a dustbath of sand and DE powder in their run a few times, and all they do is eat it - they've eaten through half a bag of play sand! They did have a good bathe in the garden in the sun the other day (pics on my blog).

 

I'll have another go at having a look at her later, and will try and get some DE powder on her. Don't think it's broodiness, the area she's pecking is high up on her chest, sort of the base of her neck. I did read that Black Rocks aren't prone to broodiness at all.

 

I do seem to worry about the chickens more than I worry about the kids!