Girls have lost their feathers, what am I doing wrong?

[Mabelmom]

Hi group. New to this community and to raising chickens. I have 7 girls, all have been laying for just a year. Five of them have significant feather loss on their backs at the base of the tail and and a couple have significant loss around the vent. Is this normal or do I have a problem? If a problem, how do I confirm it and fix it. They are a mixed flock of 2 Barred Rock, 2 Golden Sex Link, 1 Wellsummer, 1 Olive Egger and 1 Easter Egger. The Olive Egger shows no feather loss and the Easter Egger only mild. The Barred Rocks seem to be worst followed by the Wellsummer. Any insight and assistance would be greatly appreciated.

 

[FarmerGirl1010]

Welcome to BYC friend!
Do you have any roosters? When they mate, they may lose the back feathers. To fix that, put on a chicken apron. Molting could also be the case. They lose feathers and grow back new ones before winter. This is completely normal. The case may be the other hens picking on eachother.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi group. New to this community and to raising chickens. I have 7 girls, all have been laying for just a year. Five of them have significant feather loss on their backs at the base of the tail and and a couple have significant loss around the vent. Is this normal or do I have a problem? If a problem, how do I confirm it and fix it. They are a mixed flock of 2 Barred Rock, 2 Golden Sex Link, 1 Wellsummer, 1 Olive Egger and 1 Easter Egger. The Olive Egger shows no feather loss and the Easter Egger only mild. The Barred Rocks seem to be worst followed by the Wellsummer. Any insight and assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome To BYC

Can you post some photos?

Look them over for lice/mites and consider how much space you have inside your coop.
You have a couple that have no feather loss at all, watch to see if they are plucking out feathers during roosting.
What do you feed including treats?

 

[Mabelmom]

Welcome to BYC friend!
Do you have any roosters? When they mate, they may lose the back feathers. To fix that, put on a chicken apron. Molting could also be the case. They lose feathers and grow back new ones before winter. This is completely normal. The case may be the other hens picking on eachother.

No rooster. Only the hens. The Wellsummer started this trend late last fall so I put an apron on her and saw no appreciable change. Then everybody else started losing them. One of the Barred Rocks' is by far the worst right now. Have seen no appreciable pecking or aggressive behavior amongst the flock. Thanks for your input. I'm concerned and just wish I could get a more definitive diagnosis.

 

[FarmerGirl1010]

No rooster. Only the hens. The Wellsummer started this trend late last fall so I put an apron on her and saw no appreciable change. Then everybody else started losing them. One of the Barred Rocks' is by far the worst right now. Have seen no appreciable pecking or aggressive behavior amongst the flock. Thanks for your input. I'm concerned and just wish I could get a more definitive diagnosis.

What’s the weather like? They molt and grow back new feathers for the winter. Please post some pictures