Bare backs what can i do?

[Mamagirl3]

We have 11 hens and 1 rooster. 7 of them have different degrees of feather loss on their backs. I purchased the saddle aprons as suggested, and the other girls peck at them and make them hide. The roo hates them so much he will grab on the aprons and pull them with his beak... on one occasion we witnessed him pulling on the apron and as the hen was trying to get away the apron was still in his beak as she ran away. So we took all the aprons off and everyone was just fine. But he has caused a couple to have no feathers on a mid section of their backs. He does not over breed any particular ones.. when he tries to mount one if she doesnt sit down for him he stops, he doesnt seem aggressive about breeding and doesn't choose 1 over another? I just am wondering now if he is just bad at what he is doing and doesnt realize he doesnt need to hold on so tight??
There is only feather damage the skin looks fine.. no sores or wounds or marks on them. any suggestions since the aprons dont work?
Thank you.

 

[aart]

There's not much you can do other than remove the male from the flock.
It probably bothers you more than them, since no skin wounds.
You could clip the sharp tips of the males nails to help avoid any skin injuries.
Bare backs are often caused more by 'weak' feathers than the males feet or technique.

 

[Ridgerunner]

How old are they? Those behaviors sounds like they are pretty mature but that type of feather loss is more common with immature cockerels and pullets. It is possible his technique will improve with time if that is the problem.

How much difference in size is there between him and the girls? It's typical for a rooster to be heavier than the hens of the same breed but the more difference in weight the more likely this type of problem.

To me it doesn't sound like either of these but I'll mention them as possible. It is perfectly normal for an occasional feather to fly during mating. That is not a problem. It's when bare spots develop where his claws are sitting or on the back of her head where he grabs during mating that it can be a problem. The head grab is a natural part of mating, it is the hen's signal to raise her tail out of the way so he can hit the target. There would be no fertile eggs without the head grab. Bare spots can be cut by claws, spurs if he has them, or by the beak. I agree with Aart, it probably bothers you more than the chickens. But if you are seeing bare spots you need to watch for wounds. Wounds can happen.

If the entire feather is gone it should soon grow back. But if any part of the shaft is still there that feather will not grow back until they molt.

So what can you do? As Aart said, remove the male from the flock, either for a time or permanently. Or dull the sharp points of his claws. There are different techniques for that. We can discuss it if you want to.

Aart mentioned "weak" feathers. Weak or brittle feathers can be caused by heredity or by diet. Seven out of eleven sounds like a lot for it to be heredity but you never know. Seven out of eleven sounds like it may not totally be diet either. I don't know what you are feeding them but you might try giving them a few Black Oil Sunflower Seeds (BOSS). These are loaded with oil so you don't want to overdo it, just a few are enough. The oil can lubricate the feathers, softening them and making them shiny.

You can continue as you are, just observe them and look for wounds. Often this is enough.

I think this is way too drastic for you. When I started my flock I had one boy and 8 girls that were approaching a year old. Two of the girls developed fairly severe bare backs. I wanted to hatch chicks so I needed a male and it looked like brittle feathers to me. So I ate those two girls. None of the other girls developed bare backs even though my girls went from 8 to 6 so I couldn't blame the boy. You often see male to female ratios mentioned for this, I don't believe that at all. You meet those ratio requirements with eleven and are still having issues. None of the pullets I hatched from the remaining hens developed bare backs, I think it was brittle feathers and possibly hereditary.

Good luck!

 

[Mamagirl3]

There's not much you can do other than remove the male from the flock.
It probably bothers you more than them, since no skin wounds.
You could clip the sharp tips of the males nails to help avoid any skin injuries.
Bare backs are often caused more by 'weak' feathers than the males feet or technique.

Thank you very much for responding! Had only heard that it was bad roos it is encouraging that it can happen without him abusing them.

 

[Mrs. K]

How do your hens act? If they are hiding in the coop, running away from him, screeching when he mounts - you have a problem.

If they want to be by him, think he is grand, groom him. Think his tidbits are the best and that he is John Travolta when he dances, well bare backs bother people more than they bother chickens.

MRs K

 

[Mamagirl3]

How do your hens act? If they are hiding in the coop, running away from him, screeching when he mounts - you have a problem.

If they want to be by him, think he is grand, groom him. Think his tidbits are the best and that he is John Travolta when he dances, well bare backs bother people more than they bother chickens.

MRs K

Thank you ! They all like him.. if he does his calling like he found something they run as fast as their little legs will carry them. Very seldom do they spread out very far and if they do he will crow and call until they are all back in his sight. He even tells them when he is ready for bed and calls them to the coop... we have watched him walk sideways against a hen to guide her and make her get in the coop! The only time they run from him and it isnt really a run... more of scooting away is if he tries to get on one and she doesnt want him to.. she will scoot away. But he never forces them. Most of the time when he does his little dance and walks towards one she will squat down. If she doesnt he may or may not try to get on her but when she moves away he doesnt force her. The only time they ran from him and it wasnt just but some of the hens was when i put aprons on half of them because their backs are bare. No one liked them and pecked at them and they stayed hidden all the time. Then we witnessed the roo grab an apron with his beak and pull until he pulled it off. Decided to take them all off so they wouldnt be tormented anymore.
Thank you for your response.