chickens with featherless rears??? what could it be?

[queenhoneeybee]

my stepfather has some chickens that he has had for almost a year now and maybe few months ago his chickens feathers on the rear near vent and extended to whole bottoms are featherless. he has treated for mites and coop and has also have them antibiotics to no avail. does anyone have any ideas on what is the cause of this? i must also say that the rest of the chickens feathers looks fab from head to wings and only a few of the chickens out of 10 are affected... the rest look perfect. thanks for any info!

 

[Tiramisu]

how old are they? Maybe they went into molt? Is there a rooster around?

 

[queenhoneeybee]

they are a little over a year now. their rears are completely bald and it looks like its skin (body) bright red. they are all hens.

 

[dichotomymom]

My girls that are lower on the pecking order get them plucked out by their superiors. The ones at the top are full of feathers.

 

[emys]

If he has treated and re-treated for bugs and they are still bald hens then...Sounds like you have some feather pluckers.

Usually occurs when some layers aren't getting enough protein in their diet. You will need to sort out the slow bald ones until their feathers grow back and take a look at the feed situation. Maybe switch to flock raiser with calcium supplement on the side for awhile.

 

[queenhoneeybee]

thanks so much for the info i will make sure to tell my dad. =]

 

[crazyhen]

Sometimes hens will get a bald spot from being mated with a roo. I have one who gets it the others don't. Gloria Jean