Still trying to keep the girls occupied

I am doing all I can to keep the girls busy but they are still feather pulling. It seems to happen most in the dust bath. As soon as Dotty or Bluebell settle into a dust bath, Pepper will sit beside them and pluck them. It is heartbreaking going into their run and picking up feathers. I am keeping the water spray handy but I see them plucking from a distance and they scatter when I go in.

The remains of the mint

The mint I put in yesterday has been reduced to this, but they say that the more you pick mint the more it grows so I am hoping that it will be tough enough to recover and eventually to spread.

My trays of grass don’t seem to be coming back and I am going to start afresh soon so decided to put the trays in for the girls to peck at and scratch through.

What was once a tray of grass

There are only a few blades of grass to be pecked but they can scratch through the soil underneath.

Grass tray emptied out

I put a couple of the grass trays in and once pecked, I emptied one out so that the girls can scratch through the shingle and soil.

I bought the girls a peck block a while ago but it is so hard that they can’t get into it and I have chipped bits off for them with a hammer. I thought I would try soaking it in water to soften it and it worked.

The peck block

They are now getting the corn off but I will keep an eye on it and if they get too much too quickly, I will take it away and give it to them for short spells only.

I have recently raised the feeder as I was advised it should be shoulder height to the girls. When it was on the patio floor the girls flicked the pellets out and ate them from the floor but the pellets remained on the square that the feeder was on.

Since I have raised it they flick them out far and wide and now the pellets are everywhere.

The pellets now get flung all over the floor

I am tempted to go back to having the feeder directly on the floor as it was easier to clean up but I will persevere for a while.

I also pruned the top of the large shrub in their run for two reasons. I hope it will encourage it to put out new growth and I have left the pruned leaves in the run for the girls to peck at.

I am continuing to do all I can but am becoming more desperate about this. I read an article today (a friend who is trying to help and support forwarded it to me, thank you Jackie), that said stress can bring on this behaviour (possibly Treacle departing) and that it is one of the hardest habits to break but ultimately this behaviour is bad for them and could result in new feathers being unable to come through.

I am beginning to think separation is the only solution to breaking the habit. This will be very difficult to do in my set up and will be stressful to me and the girls but I think I am going to have to work out a way of doing this.