Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

As some of you are aware i am the happy maintainer of three young Brabanter younguns...2 pullets, 1 cockeral...today, during my chores, I noticed that the cockeral is missing a sizable quantity of tail plummage...none to be found laying about in the coop so are the girls eating them?...they are young...Sept ish hatch ( Jan, help me, I am old and forgetful..lol)...is this normal?...

TomK wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 23, 2019 8:50 pm

As some of you are aware i am the happy maintainer of three young Brabanter younguns...2 pullets, 1 cockeral...today, during my chores, I noticed that the cockeral is missing a sizable quantity of tail plummage...none to be found laying about in the coop so are the girls eating them?

If it's not final chick moult (a bit early for that, I think, but I have less experience with the breed than you do LOL) and nothing could have grabbed his tail through pen wire, then yes, the little dinosaurs are eating his feathers.

TomK wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 23, 2019 8:50 pm

...they are young...Sept ish hatch ( Jan, help me, I am old and forgetful..lol)

Yes,they hatched September 9 :)

TomK wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 23, 2019 8:50 pm

...is this normal?...

Not really. It's usually a sign of inadequate protein, boredom/restlessness, or of being an Ameraucana ...hens of all types seem to LOOOVE picking off an Ameraucana's beard and muffs. If he's got bald spots from the pullets' peccadillo, you're going to want to make sure they're not drawing blood or leaving scabs. If they do, chicken dinner may be next on the menu
Toss some raw red meat in there, or a frozen treat block. It will kill two birds with one stone , provide additional protein AND keep them occupied for awhile.

Sometimes my sweet turkey ladies follow H D around and pick at his tail feathers as he is displaying (only him, not the 2 Jakes). They are on slightly higher protein over the winter but doesn't seem to make a difference.

@TomK , his brother Charlie's tail feathers are looking pretty sparce at the moment too. I figured it was final chick moult starting, didn't occur to me that it could be too early for that. I'll have to pay attention now to whether Cilla is pecking at them. They do get plenty of extra protein.

When I had the turkeys the chickens would pick at his tail when he was displaying as well.
Looks like you have some tail loving girls.

I had a bantam rooster in with some standard size hens a couple years ago and I witnessed them doing the exact thing to him. They plucked and swallowed all of his tail feathers. When I put Stop Pick on his rump they acquired a taste for that after a few days and picked til he bled. I had to remove him and put him in another pen. It’s a bad habit! They had plenty of good quality food to eat So there was no good reason for it.

I’m leaving this one alone ...

Love eavesdropping on some of these conversations. I hope that is filed in my memory now so I won't freak out if I see it. So good to listen to experienced folk here. I learn so much!

ross wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 24, 2019 4:04 pm

I’m leaving this one alone ...

Impressive self control

Thanks to folks like you OC for helping me over the years .