Bald patch on chicken

[Clouded]

Mocha is our 10 month old Golden Wyandotte
This morning we discovered a bald patch on her back at the base of her tail, roughly the size of a quarter. We aren't sure why it's there.
While Mocha is clearly at the bottom of the pecking order within our flock, none of our chickens are aggressive.They don't actively seek her out and pick on her.
We live in Wisconsin and still have another month or so of winter, so we're curious on what we can do to help protect the bare skin, and also how to prevent the loss of more feathers.
Any ideas?

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Hi! How much space do you have in their coop? How much space in the run? How many birds?

 

[HeatherKellyB]

@3KillerBs @aart

 

[Clouded]

Hi! How much space do you have in their coop? How much space in the run? How many birds?

The coop is 3' by 4' and the run is roughly 360 square ft although since it's winter the only use about a third of the space since the rest of it is covered in snow
we have seven chickens

 

[3KillerBs]

The coop is 3' by 4' and the run is roughly 360 square ft although since it's winter the only use about a third of the space since the rest of it is covered in snow
we have seven chickens

Welcome to BYC.

Do you have a male? A bald patch at the base of the tail is often caused by "rooster wear".

I'm afraid that a 12 square foot coop is less than half of what's needed for a flock of 7 -- at 4 square feet per hen you need 28 square feet, 4x7 -- and winter when they can't get out into their run is one of the times when space really matters.

If it's feather picking, that's not necessarily *caused* by crowding but it can be made worse because the picking victim doesn't have room to get away.

What feed do you use? Sometimes increasing the protein helps with feather picking -- if that's what this is.

You can use one of the blue lotions that farm stores sell to treat the area or, if it's just rooster wear with missing feathers but no redness, rawness, or wounds, you can try a hen saddle.

Also, it's a good idea to do an inspection for lice or mites any time there's a feather problem.

Good luck.