Feather Eating or Mites

[Mountainmamaof4]

My flock is looking awful and they are to young to be molting. They all have bald spots on their backs at the base of their tails and on their butts. I have not been able to examine them all as I am usually by myself and they do not care to be held but I have been able to inspect 2 of them and have not seen any scabs on theirs vents or eggs. I have one rooster in my flock and originally suspected he was the culprit but I have noticed that he too is looking rough. This is the first flock I’ve ever had and I am worried about what is happening...please help!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

My flock is looking awful and they are to young to be molting. They all have bald spots on their backs at the base of their tails and on their butts. I have not been able to examine them all as I am usually by myself and they do not care to be held but I have been able to inspect 2 of them and have not seen any scabs on theirs vents or eggs. I have one rooster in my flock and originally suspected he was the culprit but I have noticed that he too is looking rough. This is the first flock I’ve ever had and I am worried about what is happening...please help!

Please post some photos.

How old are they?
What do you feed including treats?
How much space do you have and how many birds? (sq ft of coop and run)

If you need to, wait until they are roosting, then take each bird off the roost and examine them.

 

[Eggcessive]

What breeds do you have, and how many pullets with the cockerel? I agree with @Wyorp Rock that night time or early morning before daylight is the best time to inspect them when they are asleep. I use a headlamp with a red light to sneak in and take them off the roost. Feather picking can be common if they are overcrowded, eating too little protein in the diet, or boredom from not getting out to free range. Overmating by a young cockerel may be a possibility as well. Here is a good article with pictures of lice and mites, if that is a problem:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/

 

[Mountainmamaof4]

Please post some photos.

How old are they?
What do you feed including treats?
How much space do you have and how many birds? (sq ft of coop and run)

If you need to, wait until they are roosting, then take each bird off the roost and examine them.

They are 5-6 months old. They eat pellet layer feed with crushed egg shells, scratch, summer squash & zucchini (at the moment), and fruit & veggie scraps. I have 20 hens and 1 Roo. Their coop is 8’x8’ and their run 13’ x 10’. We are currently working on a new coop and run that is bigger. We just bought this place and this is what was already in place. I have been watching them most of the day today and I think they are doing it to each other!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

5-6 months old

eat pellet layer feed with crushed egg shells, scratch, summer squash & zucchini (at the moment), and fruit & veggie scraps.

I have been watching them most of the day today and I think they are doing it to each other!

The loss on the pullets looks like it's from mating. Could be a bit of feather picking from each other too.
The cockerel, likely the pullets are pulling out his muff.

If possible, give them more outdoor run space. They have about 6sq ft each in there. It seems a lot of folks "say" 10sq ft per bird minimum. More is better is all I know if that's possible.

If more space is not doable right now, provide some perches in the run, so they have places to get up and away from one another.
Feather picking can also go on during roosting at night, so look at roosting space. They do like to pack on top of one another for the most part, but see that they have room if they want it.

Feathers are broken off and feather shaft is intact in the skin. Generally those feathers will not be replaced until they go through their adult molt which is usually at 16-18 months of age give or take.

A cockerel with pullets - he's really hormonal and a lot of times pullets are quite so willing.
Been there done that! You may want to look into getting saddles for the pullets, this will help protect their backs. I used saddles my first year, I had some bald pullets LOL I think it bothered me more than them. I don't use saddles anymore, but I usually don't put a cockerel with pullets either. Lesson learned. We all have a learning curve, everyone does things differently.