My year old hen, one of 10, who seems to be at the top of the pecking order in the pen, continually has no backside feathers or fluff. There is no bleeding or evidence of damage to her skin, but she just never has any feathers on that area. Has anyone ever seen this. Are the other hens just pecking them out, or should I suspect mites or some other reason? The horse vet who was out said she was fine, but it seems strange to me. I never see the other hens bothering her, but I cannot figure this one out. Does anyone have any wisdom for me. Otherwise, she is fine, eats well, is the biggest hen I have, active. Carolyn
I dont' know exactly where she's losing her feathers but i have heard that happens with mites BUT when we had our rooster..... our hens were bare all the time after awhile. He definelty had his favs..... do you have a rooster? and the hens very well could be pecking at her... once they have a drop of blood or it seems whenever anything is different, they start pecking. hope that helps
It sounds like you don't have a rooster so that eliminates one standard possibility. It also does not sound like molting. Many mammal vets are not great with poultry. No disrespect intended, but vets specialize just like other doctors. Some things I'd consider. Look for mites and lice. The normal place to look is around the vent. They like to be near the moisture. Roost mites hide during the day and attack at night, so you need to check for them after they go to sleep at night. They will hide from the light too so you might just see them scurrying away. It is possible that another hen is picking at the feathers. I had a rooster that let the hens pick the feathers off his neck. He just stood there while they picked a spot bare. Once it got a little raw so I locked him up for a couple of days but they never really hurt him. I'm not sure what else it would be. Although I made that comment about the vet, I believe he is probably correct. As long as she is not raw or bleeding and appears to be in good health, I would not worry too much about it. I'd just watch to see if it does start to show damage. Good luck!
Some of my hens are bare back. As much as I hate to, I have to get rid of one of my Roos. Right now the ratio is 3 to 23. I want to send the Buff Cochin packing but that is my wife's baby. The Barred Rock is my boy so I guess the Buff Rock is the one that goes. He seems to be the hardest on the girls.
I had a BO hen a couple years ago who had a bare butt - naked to the skin. I couldn't figure out why, since she had all her feathers elsewhere and no sign of parasites or guilty roosters. Then I discovered the culprit one evening after they'd all roosted. A young Brahma pullet was hiding in the nest box behind the roosting perch at night, in exactly the ideal position to leisurely pick off the BO's butt fluff. After I hung curtains across the nest boxes, the surreptitious behavior stopped, and the naked butt was soon covered with fluff again.
