Hens losing feathers on back

[Cdur]

This is my second year raising chickens. Last year I had a variety of breeds 2 Black Sex links 4 Rhode Island reds,13 Brown leghorns, 2 buffs and 4 barred Plymouth. I bought them in late may and by October most of them had bare backs. I tried everything to correct the problem. Red light in the coop at night, Vicks on their tails, feeding them a small amount of cat food for extra protein, even making Chicken sweaters, nothing helped.

Unfortunately in April this year our dog got in the coop and killed all but 8. Six of which I had already separated out because the were mean. Those six still do not have feathers on their backs, they are still separate from rest of the birds.

In may this year I purchased 50 chicks 25 buffs, 22 White leghorns and 3 brown leghorns.
The brown leghorns are losing the feathers. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[TNchickies]

Wow. That's weird. I'm not quiet sure what to say...

Perhaps you should try checking them for worms?

And, make sure you are careful with the cat food!!! Most of them have high protein and fat content, which could be harmful to chickens. I don't really have any more ideas. Wish you luck!!!

 

[Rhoise]

We used pinless peepers worked for feather picking and bullying, they can fall off after a bit some we had to put back on some hens behaved, its worth a try?

 

[Cdur]

Thank you, what are pinless peepers? I have never heard of this before.

 

[Kelsie2290]

http://www.nationalband.com/gamebird.htm http://www.nationalband.com/nbtgame.htm is a website with various kinds of peepers and bumpers.
Do you have roosters? How much space do you have per bird? Have you tried a higher protein feed in general (most Layer is 16%). Have you double checked for mites / lice?

 

[Cdur]

I think they have plenty of room, especially the six that are the worst. I don't see any evidence of mites or lice. I went ahead and ordered some pinless peepers. I hope they aren't as big as they look in the pictures, the part the goes in the nostril look awful big compared to the size of their beeks.
Thanks for the help!