The Official Forum of the Ameraucana Breeders Club > Exhibiting & Promoting
Beard/Muff Picking Help Needed
Temple DaSilva:
Ugh... I have some chronic beard pickers so am looking for help with what might work in curbing this behavior. I never see them do it during the day so I'm guessing they sit next to each other on the roost bar at night and pick each other bald. Has anyone had any luck with any kind of topical treatment to deter the offenders? I will never get these girls into a show like this and don't want them starting in on the new cockerel I put in with them!
Thanks in advance,
-temple in CT
Susan Mouw:
Boy, I'll be watching this thread! I have a couple that have picked the cockbird's beard clean!
Don:
I also hope that someone has some secrets that they will share to help with this problem. It can be a problem with most any flock but it does seem to be much worse with the beards and muffs. The more area you can give them the better, but may still not curtail the issue. I think that most folks that are all into showing will single pen their stock for several months prior to the shows. Others have tried hanging cabbage or other treats in the pens to give them something else to keep them busy. Its probably caused when the chickens get food stuff stuck in their beards feathers. You'll often see females cleaning crumbles from the edges of other's beaks. And the muffs are easy to pull. There were some old posts where a few folks used pheasant blinders "peepers", so the birds couldn't see forward. There are some anti-pic lotions available but the ones I know will discolor feathers. Below is a post from Paul some years ago for another early approach. But again you have to try it before the final molt.
Paul Smith
"Feather eating may be stopped by rubbing petroleum jelly on the birds feathers, that are being eaten (beards, muffs and especially accross their backs by the base of their tail), then coating it with sulphur dust. Neither sulphur nor petroleum jelly will work by itself. They must be used together. If you wear silver jewelry-remove it before treating the birds as the sulphur will cause silver to turn black. I\'ve found that this works very well, but it will stain the birds feathers, so they need to be young enough that they will molt before showing them. Also keep the sulphur dust out of their eyes and yours.
Whole oats in the birds diet helps on some cases of feather picking."
Lavender Sullivan:
When I skimmed through the archives, one of the founders suggested feeding whole oats to chickens over six weeks old would prevent the desire to eat feathers. I hope you can get this solved. Good luck!
Temple DaSilva:
--- Quote from: Don on August 02, 2016, 08:19:46 AM ---Whole oats in the birds diet helps on some cases of feather picking."
--- End quote ---
I'll give it a try. I have two chocolate girls who look like they went to a waxing salon... not even a hint of beard or muffs anymore! And I've done the hanging cabbages and all kinds of other stuff. They aren't crowded in the least. They seem to do it when they roost. Maybe the only way is segregation. :-(
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