I red the reddit column. And I agree that dominant hens in non free range situations exacerbate the bareback problem. It begins with feather breakage and it becomes like pulling strings for the other hens. It is also about submissiveness of those bareback hens to Rooster and more dominant...
There are definitely favorite hens.
They tend to be for me the high production varieties with docile demeanors and my friendliest birds. Easy to catch for everybody it seems. I also think roosters go through hormonal maturing too. Is he young? He May settle in his second year.
Unfortunately...