Feathers not growing back after 4 months!

[L8ybug]

My six hens had a rooster with them until April, when we "sold him down the river" due to his behavior. His passionate acts included removing the feathers from the girls' backs. I assumed they would grow back with him gone, but they have not and now it is August and winter is coming!

Two questions: will the feathers grow back, and if they don't grow back will they get frostbite on the bare skin? It got down to about 10F in their coop last winter.

These hens were hatched April 2009, and the bare skin on their backs is somewhat reddish, like a windburn.

L8ybug in Alaska

 

[OregonChickenGal]

No worries, every year at this time some of my hens have bare backs, and I have never had a rooster. It will grow back eventually. My hens will be starting their molt in another month or two. Just in time for winter, like always. Chickens are pretty hardy as long as there isn't cold drafts in their coop, they'll be fine. They all cuddle up together to keep warm. Some winters it will get -10 to -15 here, and I have never had a problem with frost bite. When the temps get that cold I always put a heat lamp in their coop so I don't have to worry.

 

[L8ybug]

Thanks for the input. They are very happy chickens right now, but in winter they are loathe to leave their coop. The coop is insulated and we keep a heat lamp and oil heater in there in the cold months. It still gets well below freezing, though, when it's -20 or -30 outside.

L8ybug