Feather loss and poopy butts?

[Sarah-]

Hey BYC!

I've had my current (and first) flock for about a year so I am still learning.

My flock of barred rocks just turned 1 year old this month. We noticed a couple of weeks ago that one of our hens was getting a bald spot at the top of her tail (photo attached - the other hens have bigger spots than she does). I looked into this and figured it might be an overbreeding issue since apparently molting starts from the top down? We have 4 hens/1 rooster; everything I've read says this is too few hens, but we haven't had any problems until now. Anyway, now three of the hens have a similarly placed bald spot. The dominant hen has a full, beautiful tail though. We've checked for coop mites and mites on the birds, but haven't seen anything. We checked again today, especially around the vent, and noticed the hens had pretty poopy butts. This has been a problem on and off for us, but I haven't had any ideas on how to treat the poopy butts since it hasn't seemed like much of an issue. The flock is eating, drinking, and laying normally. Behavior is also mostly normal, apart from the rooster who just started attacking me so he is probably on the way out.

Anyway, I just wanted to pick the brains of you chicken experts for any advice. Is it probably just a rooster issue like I think it might be? What about the poopy butts - any advice on that?

Thanks!
Sarah

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Is it probably just a rooster issue like I think it might be? What about the poopy butts - any advice on that?

Yes, it looks like mating damage.. standard wear and tear.. "problems" takes time to develop. The dominant hen may get mounted less often leaving her with better feather condition. Some folks use aprons. Those feathers may or may not be replaced when she molts.

Poopy butts may get cleaned with dish soap and warm water (or trimmed).. usually washed once or twice per year for those effected.. and if it's effecting eggs. With a rooster in the flock, knowing he's rubbing vents with them all.. cleaner is better.

 

[Sarah-]

Yes, it looks like mating damage.. standard wear and tear.. "problems" takes time to develop. The dominant hen may get mounted less often leaving her with better feather condition. Some folks use aprons. Those feathers may or may not be replaced when she molts.

Poopy butts may get cleaned with dish soap and warm water (or trimmed).. usually washed once or twice per year for those effected.. and if it's effecting eggs. With a rooster in the flock, knowing he's rubbing vents with them all.. cleaner is better.

Thank you so much!