Does this chicken butt look normal? Pictures attached

[elkauhane]

We have 14 beautiful hens and of the 14, 2 are large fryers. Their butts do not have feathers is this normal?

One of our Black Australorps is starting to loose feathers back there, should I be concerned that the others may be picking on them?

Or are they doing it to themselves?

 

[ruth]

It looks like the start of feather picking - one does it to another. Bad thing is it can quickly escalate to cannibalism. They will literally eat one another alive starting around the vent area especially after the first blood is drawn. Reasons are varied:

Protein deficiency
Boredom
Over crowded.

Try adding Black Oil Sunflower Seeds (BOSS) to their diet if you don't already. It's a great source of protein and if scattered on the ground gives them something to hunt for and peck at instead of one another's backsides. If you can let them free range or be sure they have a large run with something to do it could help.