Sometimes roosters make hens backs bare because of overbreeding. That, however, looks excessive. I've never seen such bare backs on hens and I've seen enough of what roosters do. I don't know what these girls stories are, but it looks to be a combination of overbreeding (damage from roosters) and maybe some feather pecking by other hens. Not enough protein in their diet can cause feather eating. The missing feathers on the heads of some also point to overbreeding by the roosters. Roosters grab the hen by the feathers of the head and then mount on their back. This causes feather pulling. They will eventually grow the feathers back if given a little extra protein in the diet (like 18%) and you give them a break for a few months from breeding.I went to my local farm & feed and was looking over their stock of chickens because I'm going to be purchasing my first few very soon. I came across this balding on many of their older chickens. No help was available at the store so I wanted to ask here. Is it just that they are too young and feathers aren't grown on that area until they are older or is it a disease that I need to avoid?
