Naughty Hen

Last winter Joan was suffering from mites. A lot of chickens get them and live quite happily but for some reason it affected her quite a bit. She also moulted. As a result she lost quite a few feathers. Now the ones she cant get to have grown back but the ones she can she has taken quite a fancy to and she keeps pulling them out. I read somewhere that feather are pretty tasty things, they are full of protein. Also hens love the taste of blood (you only have to see them catch a mouse in the hen house to work that one out). As the feathers grow out of the shaft the shaft itself is blood filled and makes a tasty treat. Sometimes its boredom or bullying that causes feather pulling, but in this case we are pretty sure its just a bad habit she has got into. We've tried anti peck spray but it doesn't seem to work so yesterday we bought some super strength anti self harm spray for dogs. It sprays on and works by coating the feathers with a disgusting slimy liquid which tastes of cloves. Lets hope it works.