Plucking

[Crundy]

OK, so after dowsing Myrtle's behind with foul spray and using Maureen's "Big Hen" technique, Mabel is still yanking her vent feathers out and eating them.

Got some Ukadex on order, as well as some beak bumpers as a last resort. Is there anything else that might help?

[MaureenHall]

Can't think of anything apart from separating them, but with only 2 birds, that's not an option. More birds than 2 spreads out the aggro

[RichmondHens]

If they are actually eating the feathers it suggests they are low on protein. Assume they are getting fed pellets/mash and not lots of grain?

[Crundy]

Yes, just layers pellets. We were giving them a lot of sweetcorn as a snack, but stopped that about a week ago because they were laying bouncy eggs all the time.

We've started giving them a few sunflower seeds, because we read somewhere that they contain a protein which is used to make feathers and should help to stop the plucking. Also giving them dried mealworms for protien.

I'm assuming it's more boredom and bullying though. Mabel is a bit of a fat bully, and is quite greedy.