The mental health disorder that's KILLING chickens everywhere | And what to do!

[@thefeatherbrain]

Thanks for watching! Have you seen pica in your flock? Please let us all know your experience in the comments below!

[@chickenlounge641]

Gluten and gliadin in the wheat and barley, will cause same issues in chickens as in humans when it comes to digestive system. I would avoid her eating any feed with it. I experimented with my few girls that had digestive issues, and it reversed the problems every time. I also offer to my flock daily lard or tallow free choice as a healthy fat source, and it helps with any blockages in crop, as well.

[@chickenlounge641]

I just love your videos. You deserve million subscribers ❤

[@thefeatherbrain]

Thank you! I love your video too - a beautiful setup for your birds. 💕💕

[@chickenlounge641]

@ oh thank you! That was us as novice keepers, it was not the best. Now they live in a huge green house, nice and cozy during the SE Idaho winters, but still not the best. I am planning to build an insulated coop, made out of hempcrete, and have it heated in the winter. All thanks to you! Your video about the heating of the coop and your set up, really inspired me. When I dream of my new coop, I recall your video. So thank you ❤️

[@thefeatherbrain]

@@chickenlounge641 Thank you! Sounds like you're giving your birds a wonderful life, and I look forward to seeing your new coop too! 💕💕

[@Mojo849]

I am so thankful for you! I purchased your chick course in preparation for my next little flock. Excellent advice that I will be incorporating. I’ve also started giving my little flock of 5 wet crumbles which they love and think is a treat! The idea of sprinkling their food in bedding was a game changer. I have piles of leaves in different parts of their yard that they like to pick through. I sprinkle their layer mash (seeds) in there and mix it up. Occupies them for hours, as you say. Thanks!!! I’m not sure if any of my hens have had PICA over the past 6 years of raising chickens, but they can definitely have mental issues, whether permanent or temporary, as a response to stress. I just try to love them through it! Thanks again!❤

[@Kalico]

As always.. great video. You are probably the person that cares most about their chickens. I've never seen pica in my chickens - however - I cut my grass and dumped the cuttings for the chickens to scratch around in. One hen actually had a total blockage and I didn't notice til she lost weight. The vet did a crop surgery and the hen survived the surgery but died from complications healing. She was so weak the poor hen. It was awful. I'm now very aware about what and how my chickens eat. That poor hen had long grass balled up in her crop that completely blocked her digestion. Never again! Thank you for caring so much about these beautiful birds.

[@thefeatherbrain]

So sorry to hear about your dear hen! Thank you for caring so much too! 💕

[@bundleofbasil]

Thank goodness Elvira is okay! She's one lucky bird. ❤ Thank you for all of the information that you share, both on KZbin and on your website. Your dedication to your flock is easy to see, and you've made a huge difference in the care I can provide for my chickens. Your videos, along with other resources, helped me raise 3 little chicks when they weren't accepted by my mature, broody hen; and the way you've spoken/written about roosters has empowered me to train my two young roos to exist safely and happily within my little flock. That last thing is a work in progress, but they're sweet (albeit hormonal) boys, and they show a lot of promise. Again, thank you!

[@PatoxMaia]

I had never heard of PICA. My chicks are very selective about what they eat, even feed. I hope they keep that attitude. Thanks for the video, I love all your material!

[@thefeatherbrain]

Thank you! I hope pica is never an issue for you too! 💕💕💕 Best, Bri

[@journeyofahummingbird]

@thefeatherbrain You should write a book! I've learned more from your videos than most others. Your take on chickens is unique and backed by science and experience. I love learning about chickens through your eyes.

[@hailanj]

Yay! A new featherbrain video! 🤩 Always look forward to your videos 🐓

[@thefeatherbrain]

Thank you! 💕

[@lindabirmingham603]

When I worked as a Pathologists Assistant, our lab received a specimen from the Operating Room from a patient with PICA. It was a few handfuls of stuff including coins, staples, zipper pulls, paper clips, soda can pull tabs, and some broken glass. It was removed from his stomach and small intestine... Amazing that he didn't perforate them and bleed to death. He did this whenever he could.

[@thefeatherbrain]

Thank you for sharing this! I can't imagine what it's like to have these compulsions. 💕💕

[@yairvitman2514]

Yoh are the best. My truly mentor for chikening.

[@JoseAlvarez-us1iy]

This is the first time I’ve been early to one of your videos. Thanks for letting me know about this😮

[@thefeatherbrain]

Welcome!

[@CapoeiraBaron]

Your chicken content is awesome! Always happy to learn new stuff with every update

[@thefeatherbrain]

Thank you! 💕

[@Mojo849]

Ha! Just finished up your video and you talked about putting molasses in the wet feed. I did that the other day not for the laxative effects, just bc I thought they might like it. I’m going to make sure I do that with the Epsom salt on a regular basis now. Thanks!😊

[@elisabethkinsey4168]

My very first chicken has been an Elvira, Easter Egger Eccentric named Wesley who poses for pictures, and communicates in specific ways when she's cold or needs a dust bath. She's the smartest chicken and my first, so I assumed every chicken was like her. Anyway - she has an impacted crop right now and is on her 5th life (hawk attack, mite infestation, Newcastle three times, impacted crop two times before this, and sour crop once during summer - diarrhea constantly from eating weird stuff. She tried a Sierra Newt!!! Thank God she didn't eat it. Anyway - thank you for this. I will try the molasses trick tomorrow. You may have saved her life. If anything, I feel hope.

[@bundleofbasil]

How is Wesley doing? I hope she's alright

[@tinab7791]

I have a hen that's basically PermaBroody, and the first year, I kept catching her eating the nesting pads. She did get impacted, and I barely saved her, but she's still here, grumbling in the nest box from spring through fall lol. That experience really put me on the alert for this type of thing.

[@tinab7791]

What I ended up doing for my impacted girl was using coconut oil for massage, but I would mix a whole capsule of digestive enzymes into each little glob I was going to give her. She ate it right up and I do believe that it helped break down the (thankfully) organic material in her crop, ultimately clearing the impaction.

[@laurajusticia8711]

I love the info in your videos, love the content, and the most amazing music, makes them wonderful. Thank you for the love you have for your babies. Love from Spain 🥰

[@NonaMaryGrace1952]

My goodness this was exstreamly interesting. I am learning a lot from you. 💕NonnaGrace 🐓

[@hattiedraper1061]

Your videos are always so entertaining - as well as interesting and useful . Thank you.

[@patty9265]

Great info as usual thank you.

[@HyppieElf]

The first hen that I lost was the one and only time we switched to straw for their barn in winter. My poor little Silkie ate so much you could feel it stuck in there, and crop empty of anything else. I thought she had been going broody for a couple of days, but picked her up and knew something was way wrong. Just wish I had known sooner. 😭 Great video as always, thanks bestest weird nerdy chicken lady ever! ❤️

[@rainbowconnected]

I'm so glad Elvira is okay! She seems like a very sweet and special girl. Thank you for sharing about how to prevent and handle this problem. I've definitely observed them go after new bedding with serious fervor, especially hemp and it scared me this might occur. Luckily everyone was fine, but I'm glad to have a proactive strategy to help next time I swap bedding. Out of curiousity, do you know what is with the backward walking somewhat crouched head shaking behavior I saw Elvira do a few times in this video? A couple of my hens do this from time to time and I always wonder what is going on. If you ever have the time to make a video about flock integration, that would be amazing. Mine is still struggling with it after more than a year of living together. I think it got worse when my rooster died, as I think he was keeping the peace. But I might just be biased because I miss him.

[@thefeatherbrain]

Elvira is a character for sure - I do adore her! Yes! The backward walking/head shaking behavior is from molting. Elvira (and some of my other hens) do this when they molt, particularly when they have pin feathers coming in on their necks. (I've also had chickens do this after being bathed - I think anything that makes their feathers feel weird can elicit that behavior.) I actually do plan to make a long training on integration (hopefully this year). I use some unique methods and I've recorded them all but it will take me some time to go through the many hours of video and put it together. You're probably not biased - the scientific literature makes it clear that full integration in the wild typically doesn't happen until the rooster accepts the new girls and protects them from the established girls. So sorry you lost your boy. Best, Bri

[@rainbowconnected]

@@thefeatherbrain That makes sense! Having feathers seems like it could definitely cause some weird sensations, to be sure. That would be awesome and I look forward to it! I've tried most of the standard methods, so that sounds great. Interesting. It seems like the established girls are the ones having a problem and he was protecting them. I think the newer girls are more aggressive with food and resources because they were literally living on the street with no food or coop before we got them. Pretty sure at least one of their flock was taken by a predator given how they freak out at dusk and some other clues. It was weird and sad to see the alleged "pecking order" that people talk about in them since they lived in those type of awful conditions. Thank you. He was such a sweetheart. Thanks for all you do to help people be kinder to and more understanding to their chicken friends!

[@Ni-ex5fb]

Os vídeos dela trazem muito conhecimento, sou do Brasil e sou grata por estar dublado

[@lucybeevor9148]

Another great video - Thank you 🐔💖

[@samsheljesspunk]

Great video thanks

[@Medo...s-j4k]

Wonderfullllllllll chicken..... شكل الفراخ روعة

[@chubbybottomacres]

thank you, my chickens are moving to a new location soon helpful for me

[@1MSally1965]

I’ve watched my chickens many times and never seen chickens eat their own poop and I’ve been keeping them for 30+ years. Weird.

[@lindawisner3525]

Thanks this is interesting. I've never had this issue. IMHO the deep litter method is not healthy. Seems to me animal husbandry has normalize a lot of lazy methods to justify unhealthy conditions for their animals.

[@annettemastenchickenlove]

I worked in daycare and we had babies with pica

[@thefeatherbrain]

Sad to hear, but I guess it makes sense when you think of how much babies explore with their mouths.

[@jpauldennis4040]

My Sweetie Pie often autopsies her chickens, too!

[@brendachandavong7435]

After finding and watching your videos; I’m now unsure if I can raise meat birds. I also want chickens for the eggs and I just love the interaction. Do you raise chickens for meat, and if so, do you have issues with processing them? My family had farms but I’m new.

[@thefeatherbrain]

Do you mean you're unsure because you're afraid you'll feel bad when you kill the birds? Thanks for clarifying. 💕💕

[@DeeJaay2020]

Rock's... Haven't seen that, But I have watched my Chickens chase down frogs and try as I might...they won't listen when I tell them to Drop It, Don't Eat That. They always end up Eating The Frog's.🙄🐸

[@MosaicHomestead]

I use the deep litter method, but only in the coop, I am testing hey as deep litter right now, it's been working very well, In nature chickens live in the same tree, it could get poopy there as well but rain and wind is a natural cleaner, but the same happens with deep litter, poop naturally turns into compost, water helps break down poop and bedding just like it does in nature, so I installed 2 automatic peck water feeders inside for chickens, this gets bedding a bit wet helping with the composting process, this brings bugs 🐛 that like these conditions, turning my compost soil bedding into a natural ecosystem, next time I clean up, I'll film all the living critters in the bedding these critters are natural predators to chicken lice, when my chickens scratch through my bedding, they are looking for bugs 🐛, I understand the way compost is formed, it's actually living soil with bugs and microbes that are beneficial to chickens, where I agree with you is, if it doesn't break down to living soil, it's not good, that's why I added drinkers inside to supplement the liquid in chicken poop for faster breakdown of bedding.

[@TwanDelRio]

@@MosaicHomestead I do wood chip deep litter in the coop and sand in the run. Their run is small though and I just open the door every day so they can go out to a large fenced in area. You must live in a dry area because my coop bedding gets wet it gets gross real quick and I have to change it out. Maybe if the sun was able to hit it then it would dry out quickly though. I put the old bedding in a compost pile and they love going through it, it always grosses me out.

[@thefeatherbrain]

Oops - I missed half your comment - just saw you added the drinkers for additional water. Yeah, if you're able to get your bedding actually composting at a reasonable rate so the poop is breaking down, I expect it's quite nice in there. I've never been able to do that indoors.

[@MosaicHomestead]

@TwanDelRio completely the opposite, I live in a rain forest on a tropical island, I actually did research on the deep litter method before building my coop, I understood the concept because I compost, even though it rains a lot, my coop is well ventilated, good ventilation will keep your deep litter healthy and dry. You are probably using too thick of wood chip, or you have poor ventilation, my first ventilation comment ever was on this channel, I wanted to property vent a coop that wasn't built yet, my design covers every good chicken coop idea on KZbin...the only thing I wasn't willing to do is add a roof on the run area because of Hurricane season, but everything else is perfect, I have videos on the build of my coop, way different than anything you've ever seen. It's the first real Hurricane proof chicken coop.

[@MosaicHomestead]

@thefeatherbrain The secret is the concrete floor with tile on it, I learned this from my compost bins people said wouldn't work because of the concrete floor, I have a video with dark rich compost full of worms that naturally grew in the waste, I would water the compost for faster breakdown, my coop works the same way, the chickens water the bedding when they drink inside , the floor can handle the water, and the ventilation makes sure the compost doesn't become anaerobic, creating perfect compost, one full year of research before I broke ground, my coop is producing eggs and passion fruit now.

[@coralofyt]

I lost my 1 yo easteregger Lily to this her crop was impacted with long dry grass from her nest box, she knew better but I think it was more like chronic pain from bumble foot that was always coming back after many treatments made her want to take her own life & move on.

[@thefeatherbrain]

So sorry to hear this @coralofyt... but I understand. No matter how much we might want to help them, they always know better than us when it's time to go. So sorry to hear about your hen, Lily. Best, Bri

[@coralofyt]

@@thefeatherbrain I was holding Lily in my arms what she moved on, she trusted me that much, I think pica is caused by chronic pain or some physical illness, thx you for your condolences

[@Medo...s-j4k]

جميل جدا❤❤❤❤

[@714Roostergirl]

Is this from a mineral/ vitamin deficiency? I know soy in chicken feed is an anti nutrient. It prevents the absorption of certain vitamins. Almost all feeds have soy.

[@AmbersDaintyThrowBlanket]

The editing on this one 😂

[@thefeatherbrain]

Thanks for noticing! Honestly, this is not a topic I would have covered if I couldn't have fun with the editing! Best, Bri

[@bettew.524]

Btw..beautiful homestead!!!

[@SandraHertel-u3b]

Yikes, I actually feel guilty if I don’t clean poop out of the coop often. It’s gross.

[@pdnarus1]

I couldn't open your document

[@samsheljesspunk]

Thanks so much. What is your opinion on the current bird flu? Is this another plandemic? Any real reason to panic? Thanks

[@emmahorton3199]

I’m not sure if this really counts as PICA because they all eat it if given the opportunity - polystyrene and cardboard

[@thefeatherbrain]

Yes, great point. I think those qualify simply because they are non-food items. Maybe harder to attach the "mental disorder'" label.

[@TT3TT3]

Chickens swallow mice tho' .

[@thefeatherbrain]

You're right! Great point!

[@guysavelli156]

I have a poo eater. She has been a poo eater since she was a tiny chick. Funny. She is my prettiest bird and lays the most beautiful blue eggs.

[@duboislegacyfarm]

Elvira reminds me of my Libby. They even sound alike and look a bit alike. Libby is my problem child and anxiety chicken. She’s very high maintenance. 😂

[@thefeatherbrain]

They must be soul sisters! 😂💕

[@duboislegacyfarm]

@ Definitely! 😂

[@TwanDelRio]

One of my Roosters got real sick when the cold weather hit. He was just standing around and closing his eyes. I brought him inside and he was having bright green poops for about 4 days. Like so bright it would dye the paper towels i used to clean them up. The Internet said he was not going to make it. Of course they said it was everything from bacteria to kidney failure. He pulled out of it and he is back to normal but i wonder if he ate something weird like that. I did not see anything in his poop though, trust me, i checked as i cleaned up after him. 🤮

[@ColRubyDimplesManacha]

It could be blackhead, if there are wild turkeys in your area.

[@TwanDelRio]

@ColRubyDimplesManacha oh great, another disease that I was not aware of. Have you ever seen any worms come out in your chicken's droppings before? I have not but apparently many people say you won't see them. I have never used a dewormer on them before but I guess some people do it proactively. Thank you for the info. I have 13 hens, 9 of them are hybrids that I incubated myself and they were born in March. The 9 used to lay eggs almost every day, now only 2 or 3 are being laid. I figured it was just because of Winter although the 4 that I had the year before kept laying throughout the winter. The 4 were born in June. It does seem like some of my hybrids are going though like a half molt. Hopefully it's just weird timing and not some disease.

[@ColRubyDimplesManacha]

Yes, so many mysterious ailments and elusive predators! I've not had a worm experience so far, thankfully. I have lost a rooster to blackhead though, it's rough. It sounds like your hens are doing a molt, to me. They'll be laying again soon, and you'll have eggs up to your eyeballs 😁

[@TwanDelRio]

@@ColRubyDimplesManacha did it just effect the sole rooster or did it spread?

[@ColRubyDimplesManacha]

@ It only killed him, though I suspect others came across it as well. I separated him when I noticed his neon green poop and lethargy. They say it can survive in the feces for up to 30 days.

[@jandcschwartz]

She looked guilty in front of the X-ray. She seems like fun!

[@jamescole3152]

OK ok this was a comedy ..

[@tessxu8367]

Mini has Autism.

[@solinvictus6424]

Where did you get that water stand? 7:42 Mark.

[@thefeatherbrain]

Just off of Amazon - there are several similar to this, but this is the one I bought - www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C7GTQGDV/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1