Pecking problems

[Willow1234]

Hi

I am having a bit of a problem with feather pecking.
None of the 'victims' are being damaged as in there are no flesh wounds at all.
It seems that a couple of birds just seem to like pulling feathers out of the backs of some of the others purely to eat them. One of my birds (a cream crested legbar) has a bald patch on her back just above her tail.
I have seen feathers start to grow then the next day they are gone.
I have tried all sorts of pecking sprays. None of them worked and quite frankly I am a bit fed up of having to have a shower and change of clothes after each spraying session. (twice a day)
As I said, none of the pecked birds are distressed at all. They are all very healthy, eating, drinking and laying daily.
Now my question is this. Will saddles deter this? I am at a point where I am now running out of ideas.

 

[chrismahon]

Once the pecker gets a taste for feathers, particularly the blood in new ones, it is difficult to stop if the anti-pecking spray fails Willow. Identify the pecker (usually, but not always, the one with no feathers missing) and try isolation. Alternatively fit a Bumpa Beak Bit from Omlet. We've had the same problem and were unable to seperate her -she just went mad! So fitted a Bumpa (not a standard type of beak bit) and she stopped. Still laying and now gone broody so it hasn't affected her at all. I did see her go to peck another and then think the better of it -the 'bumper bar' at the front transmits the impact to her nose, which she must find uncomfortable. It has been on two weeks now and we will try her without it soon.

 

[Chuck]

As Chris has said, the danger is that if blood is drawn, whether from the feathers or from the flesh, it can turn nasty very quickly and can lead to death. I'm surprised if the Net Tex spray didn't work as it works well for me and is not that messy apart from on the hands. Doesn't need applying twice a day, every few days is fine.

 

[Willow1234]

I have tried Net-tex, Scarpa and several others.
Trouble is they are crafty. Several of them used to do the pecking but I sat down there one day with a water pistol and squirted the peckers as they did it. Now I think it is down to one or possibly two birds. When I am down there they don't do it anymore. So I now have no idea who the culprit is. They have obviously worked out that if they peck while I am there they're gonna get wet so they wait til I've gone.
I did try separating before but the separated birds got very very distressed so I had no choice but to put them all back together.
Hence the saddles idea.

 

[Marigold]

I'd love a video of you and your water pistol, Willow, it would go viral on YouTube! You'll obviously have to take your sandwiches and camp out down there, what a nice excuse to spend more time with the hens.
Had you tried disposable plastic gloves when applying the peck spray? It might help with the smelly hands problem.

 

[Willow1234]

Trouble is the blasted stuff doesn't restrict itself to just your hands.
It gets everywhere, especially if its a windy day and the smell just lingers.
If you get a tiny bit on your clothes you can smell it all day. So I literally have to change my clothes everytime I spray them.
Its either that or invest in a full military spec chemical suit.