I've had feather picking in my flock for as long as I can remember. It's annoying and frustrating. I've tried any number of things to try to control it. I had a thread on the subject a number of years ago where I thought I had found something to cure it. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/i-think-i-found-a-miracle-cure-for-feather-picking.697052/ But, no. Aside from hundreds of BYC members contributing thoughts to the thread, feather picking remains a curse and a scourge in many of our flocks.
Now, I think I've stumbled onto something promising. This thread will document my experiment. I believe it's safe or I wouldn't risk this with my chickens who all mean a lot to me. I have been giving my four most aggressive hens that are the most likely feather picking culprits small doses of L-tryptophan in tiny bite size snacks throughout the day. I've been doing it for around ten days, and I think I may be seeing positive results.
What I plan to do, when my one pound sack of L-tryptophan powder arrives in two weeks is to mix precise amounts into the feed my chickens get twice a day. I'll be keeping track of approximately how much L-tryptophan each chicken will be consuming, and will note any individuals whom I see feather picking. I may adjust the proportions as I proceed, but I'll record them here.
The reason I think this may be an effective treatment for aggression and feather picking is that L-tryptophan is a natural ingredient in animal protein. Every single time a member posts here asking for suggestions to stop feather picking in their flock, they get the predictable answers that they should feed more protein. Yet feeding more protein most often won't solve the issue. What if it's L-tryptophan in protein that is the "miracle cure" and not the protein itself?
I didn't just think of this all by my clever self. I stumbled onto a couple of research papers that dealt with aggression and feather picking in commercial poultry operations where they fed L-tryptophan as a nutritional additive to the feed and got very positive results. These are two of them.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jpn.13515
http://www.promoisinternational.com/L-TRYPTOPHAN/15
My flock is molting at present. My two roosters are growing new feathers on necks and saddles that the hens had shaved off not long after they regrew them during last fall's molt. It disappoints me no end when I see that gorgeous plumage ravaged in just a few short weeks after they finished growing in. No matter what I do to try to stop it, these feather hungry hens manage to munch them all into a bristly remnant of their brief splendor.
The little snacks I made consist of breaking open individual capsules of L-tryptophan and mixing the powder with some flour, whey protein and a bit of olive oil and enough water to make a batter, then grilling it as I would a pancake. Then I cut it into as many quarter inch bite-size pieces as it will produce. Each aggressive hen has been getting one of these snacks four times a day spaced out over the day. I'll continue this until I get the bulk powder. Then I will begin adding it to the feed to treat the whole flock.
The recipe for the bite size snacks:
5 capsules of L-tryptophan (approximately two teaspoons) emptied in a custard cup
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon whey protein powder
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
Mix dry ingredients well, add oil, and enough water to make a batter. Then cook as a pancake on a griddle. When cool, cut into quarter inch pieces and feed as snacks over the span of the day, around four pieces for each feather picking fiend or noxious bully.
Strawberry and Tootsie Pop molting.
Now, I think I've stumbled onto something promising. This thread will document my experiment. I believe it's safe or I wouldn't risk this with my chickens who all mean a lot to me. I have been giving my four most aggressive hens that are the most likely feather picking culprits small doses of L-tryptophan in tiny bite size snacks throughout the day. I've been doing it for around ten days, and I think I may be seeing positive results.
What I plan to do, when my one pound sack of L-tryptophan powder arrives in two weeks is to mix precise amounts into the feed my chickens get twice a day. I'll be keeping track of approximately how much L-tryptophan each chicken will be consuming, and will note any individuals whom I see feather picking. I may adjust the proportions as I proceed, but I'll record them here.
The reason I think this may be an effective treatment for aggression and feather picking is that L-tryptophan is a natural ingredient in animal protein. Every single time a member posts here asking for suggestions to stop feather picking in their flock, they get the predictable answers that they should feed more protein. Yet feeding more protein most often won't solve the issue. What if it's L-tryptophan in protein that is the "miracle cure" and not the protein itself?
I didn't just think of this all by my clever self. I stumbled onto a couple of research papers that dealt with aggression and feather picking in commercial poultry operations where they fed L-tryptophan as a nutritional additive to the feed and got very positive results. These are two of them.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jpn.13515
http://www.promoisinternational.com/L-TRYPTOPHAN/15
My flock is molting at present. My two roosters are growing new feathers on necks and saddles that the hens had shaved off not long after they regrew them during last fall's molt. It disappoints me no end when I see that gorgeous plumage ravaged in just a few short weeks after they finished growing in. No matter what I do to try to stop it, these feather hungry hens manage to munch them all into a bristly remnant of their brief splendor.
The little snacks I made consist of breaking open individual capsules of L-tryptophan and mixing the powder with some flour, whey protein and a bit of olive oil and enough water to make a batter, then grilling it as I would a pancake. Then I cut it into as many quarter inch bite-size pieces as it will produce. Each aggressive hen has been getting one of these snacks four times a day spaced out over the day. I'll continue this until I get the bulk powder. Then I will begin adding it to the feed to treat the whole flock.
The recipe for the bite size snacks:
5 capsules of L-tryptophan (approximately two teaspoons) emptied in a custard cup
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon whey protein powder
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
Mix dry ingredients well, add oil, and enough water to make a batter. Then cook as a pancake on a griddle. When cool, cut into quarter inch pieces and feed as snacks over the span of the day, around four pieces for each feather picking fiend or noxious bully.
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