Dolly Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 Grace, my Barnevelder, finished her moult a while ago but still has a lot of short, spiky unopened quills on her back end, which are showing no signs of developing into feathers. I think they are causing her some discomfort as one or two have been bleeding, possibly as a result of 'interest' from one of my other hens, however the quills aren't really noticeable as they're obscured by surrounding feathers. I've puffed some wound powder on the area which has helped but should it take this long for the feathers to develop? Is there anything I can do to help her? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 My suspicion would be that there's nothing wrong with the quills, they are just being pecked out by her companions, and what you have is a case of feather-pecking rather than failure to regrow. This can be hard to break - can you add any more distractions to their run, e.g. hanging up food, branches or perches to let them move around more? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 Yes, it does sound like that might be the case. As Olly has said, provide the hens with distractions in their run, spray madam with a little anti-pecking spray and keep an eye out for further pecking in case you need to fit bumper bits. It's best to be safe and fit them, than for a bit of feather puling to develop into cannibalism. I'd also suggest adding a little Biotin powder - available from horse feed suppliers - to their pellets; Biotin is a key ingredient in feather making and wil help her to feather up quicker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...