3 out of my 21 babies have feather missing above there tail. Help? We have no roosters only females. They are between 20-24 weeks old

[Sissymomoften]

 

[black_cat]

Are you positive you have no roosters? Post pics of all the birds. Have you checked birds for mites or lice?

 

[Sissymomoften]

I’m a new chick mom these are my first 21 babies and they have been heathy and happy. We clean there coop every other day and they have access to a dust bath pool area in their coop (and they use a lot) I’m pretty sure they are all females. No signs of any bugs but again I’m a new chick mom so what should I be looking for?

 

[black_cat]

I’m a new chick mom these are my first 21 babies and they have been heathy and happy. We clean there coop every other day and they have access to a dust bath pool area in their coop (and they use a lot) I’m pretty sure they are all females. No signs of any bugs but again I’m a new chick mom so what should I be looking for?

@aart has a good way of explaining checking for mites or lice. The gist of it is this: Look up pictures of poultry mites and lice, as well as their eggs, beforehand so that you know what you're looking for. In a darkish room part the feathers, especially around the vent, and shine a flashlight. If you see bugs, then you have a problem.
What are you feeding them? Do you have the ingredient list?

 

[HeatherKellyB]

What are the dimensions of your coop?

 

[Sissymomoften]

DuMOR Layer Crumble 16% Protein

Ingredients

Wheat Middlings, Ground Corn, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Corn Distillers Dried Grains, Calcium Carbonate, Corn Gluten Feed, Animal Fat Preserved with Ethoxyquin, Salt, DL-Methionine, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Yeast Extract, Vitamin E Supplement, Biotin, Manganous Oxide, Selenium Yeast, Thiamine Mononitrate, Zinc Proteinate, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Vitamin K), Zinc Oxide, Manganese Proteinate, Zinc Hydroxychloride, Niacin Supplement, Manganese Hydroxychloride, Copper Proteinate, Copper Sulfate, Active Dry Yeast, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Choline Chloride, Calcium Pantothenate, Basic Copper Chloride, Folic Acid, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Sodium Silico Aluminate, L-Lysine, Dried Aspergillus oryzae Fermentation Extract, Organic Soybean Oil, Dried Bacillus subtilis Fermentation Product, Dried Bacillus coagulans Fermentation Product, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite

 

[Sissymomoften]

Our coop is 7 foot by 12
Hen house is 7 by 6
Total 7 by 18 foot

 

[black_cat]

Our coop is 7 foot by 12
Hen house is 7 by 6
Total 7 by 18 foot

They may be picking each other's feathers because they do not have enough space. If you have 21 birds, you need at minimum 273 square feet.

 

[Brown Chick]

Mine were doing that. I changed the feed to a higher protein, feed a handful of dried mealworms daily and added vitamins to the water. The behavior stopped. I also quit giving a lot of scratch corn. They were actually eating each other’s feathers off of the ground.

 

[Sissymomoften]

2 out of the 3 are the dominant females. They are also free during day in our fenced in backyard where there is plenty of room to roam. Only lock them in hen house during really cold nights. We have electric door opener that lets them out at 6 in morning if we lock them in house on cold nights