Do not heat the entire brooding facility to the recommended temperature. Never use white light bulbs larger than 40 watts to brood fowl. If larger bulbs are required for heat, use red or infra-red bulbs. In birds 12 weeks of age or older, use 15 or 25 watt bulbs above feeding and watering areas. Don't light fowl more than 16 hours per day.
Constant light can be stressful to the birds.
If the birds have to fight for food and water, or if the birds are always hungry they will increase pecking. Be sure that birds have free access to water and feed at all times. Feed lacking protein and other nutrients, particularly Methionine, will also cause birds to pick feathers. Make sure you feed a diet balanced appropriately for the age and types of fowl you are raising. Mixing different ages of fowl or fowl with different traits promotes pecking by disrupting the flocks normal pecking order.