I had to get all of that into the title as I didn’t want to set off alarm bells. Stress is definitely one of the factors in feather pulling. This year, Mid March, Honey struggled at the start of laying. She laid one egg with no shell then another with a thin shell. She looked quite poorly while this was happening and then we noticed she was pulling a few feathers from bottoms.
My heart sank as I wondered if this habit was going to be a problem among the flock once more when I had made so many changes to stop this happening. Honey’s eggs were fine after that and we didn’t see any more feather pulling so I breathed a sigh of relief.
Then Amber died and during the days after she went we noticed Honey pulling feathers from bottoms again. Again my heart sank and I thought how unfair it seemed that once again a death amongst my flock seemed to spark this behaviour.
We saw her try to pluck feathers from Topaz and Topaz would round on her and give her the warning peck to stay away. We saw her pull feathers from Peaches and Barley and their bottoms began to show small bare patches. I thought it odd that she was targeting the top and bottom girls.
When Steve asked me how Honey was since Amber had gone I told him about this and said that I hoped it would pass. He said I should post about it because if it passed it would reassure others and if it didn’t I would have to post about it anyway.
Happily this only continued for about four days and we haven’t seen it happening since so I believe it has passed. I believe it was the loss Honey felt at Amber going that sparked this, as they had been together since they were chicks.
Today I took photos of bottoms to demonstrate this and the fact that it was difficult to see it in a photo shows that it isn’t actually that bad and I was grateful that it was only bottoms and not heads and necks like before. I also think that as Pepper and Dotty were so closely bonded this allowed Pepper to pull feathers from Dotty’s neck but Honey isn’t close enough to any of the other flock members for them to allow this behaviour.
Sparkle and Toffee have lovely fluffy bottoms
Emerald also has a fluffy bottom
Topaz has a bare patch on the left side of her bottom
See the little pink patch showing on the left.
Peaches also has a a bare patch on the left side of her bottom
Again you can just see a pink patch.
Barley has missing feathers behind her wing
Again it is the left side of her bottom under her wing. It’s odd that all three girls have missing feathers from the left side, I wonder if this has some relevance, such as being an easier side to sneak up on perhaps.
I have to apologise to the girls for trying to sneak up behind them and photograph their bottoms but I feel I must tell every story.
I will be keeping a close eye on them but thankfully I do believe this phase has passed for now.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
I can understand your concerns, given what you wrestled with in the past; however, I think you have pinpointed the cause, and they’re hardly affected. While you will be only too aware yourself, to the outside onlooker, it would not even be noticed. I know you follow Terry Golson’s ‘hencam’ – have a look at Veronica, her cuckoo marans, and that will put everything into perspective. Fortunately, we have not suffered from the extreme weather that kept Terry’s flock indoors for such a period of time this past winter. You give constant enrichment and your girls are never bored – it’s always a plesure to see their photos.
Thank you for your reassuring words. I have read all of Terry’s blog and her take on the feather pulling. I do agree that as she says it isn’t a problem in certain circumstances and as long as it doesn’t get out of hand or become an ingrained habit.
I think what I have just experienced with Honey was a temporary glitch in response to Amber going in much the same way as Terry had the problem with her girls being inside during such awful weather conditions and thank goodness we don’t have that to contend with.
What worried me was that it has been an unbreakable habit in the past and I couldn’t bare the thought of having that again. As you say to anyone outside of my flock it wouldn’t even be noticed which is more than can be said of how it was in the past. It worried me because of past experience but I am now breathing a sigh of relief and think all is okay once more. These girls do like to keep us on our toes, don’t they!
I agree that the loss of a hen can upset the pecking order for a bit. Even if it was the bottom hen. Hopefully, this will sort itself out shortly.
Honey has also been showing the girls below her their place. Since Amber went she has been a bit more aggressive with the girls below her. She is one girl nearer the bottom now and doesn’t want to slide down.
I am sure that it is due to the loss of Amber. Hopefully it has not become a habit like last time. If this is the case it just goes to show how the poor girls have feelings .
If it was me and it carried on I think I would seperate Honey before it became a habit. Sparkle does not need another bare bottom .
I haven’t seen it happening since the first few days after Amber went so I am hopeful it hasn’t become a habit and Sparkle has remained untouched this time. She has the fluffiest bottom of all the girls.