Luvachicken Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Phoebe has had her frilly knickers for a while now, since Poppy gave up pecking her naked for the winter. But today when I got in from work all I saw Poppy do was help herself to the other girls feathers. They all seemed to enjoy sharing them, but Phoebe already has a little bald patch. I know Phoebe has been laying eggs since January, and I did get 2 eggs yesterday, so someone else has just started - I think it could be Poppy but I'm not sure - but does she suffer from chicken version of PMT Why does she do that to the others ? I did rush out and spray them with the Nettex which stopped her for a bit but then she realised I hadn't sprayed their chests, so she helped herself to those instead. How close can I spray the Nettex to their faces - I don't want to gas them ? Is she lacking in something - she was really tucking in to the egg shell the other day. What else can I do - I have got some bumper bits somewhere but am a bit scared to put them on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lillybettybabs Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 I have one evil madam that will peck anything including the dogs, I have found Johnsons anti pek the best. I spray them all over every morning - no naked chickens so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 poor love she has my sympathy - No real advice found the pecking spray good when mine were having a peck at each other - anyone know if they do human version of this - manys a time I feel like pecking or giving someone a smack for bugging me at that TOTM. i am joking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forge Cottage Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Our girls are sometimes intrigued by the dark dots where new feathers are forming and peck them, maybe thinking they are tasty morsels. This can draw blood - most undignified for the recipient and no respect for the pecking order. We tried anti-pecking spray early on, but "Ooops, word censored!"ody told us that it reeked of creosote So we are not keen on using that again! Poor Peggy stank and had no friends for a while. Neither did I - but I blamed the overspray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eggasperated Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 I've used all the sprays going but have found it makes little difference in the end and some of my girls are far more distressed by the spraying than the feather pecking. I cannot imagine spraying them every morning . Now I only spray if I can see specks of blood, I use Ukadex mostly, however I did notice yesterday that my grass had died where I had got Ukadex on it so it must be pretty strong stuff . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 Ukadex is the stuff I have been using and I had to use it again this afternoon. Now I stink (and I'm going to Zumba later) and poor Phoebe instead of being a lovely shade of black and white speckles now is all over brown. Poppy seems to pull Phoebe's feathers the most - I guess cos she is the smallest - but it is Poppy who gets chased the most by the other 2, Myrtle and Melody. So I would say that Poppy is the bottom of the pecking order so why does she do this. I managed to get all of them kind of stuck in a corner where they had no chance to escape my spray. Will I have to spray them every day though ? I thought it was meant to last 3 - 5 days, and now Phoebe is totally covered she should last a while. Can I just give them feathers to eat from a pot if I can find some ? They all seem to like eating them so much. Any advice much appreciated.xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
