Hen losing feathers on back and neck.

[aljeffers]

My barred rock has lost the feathers on her back, around her head, and areas of her wings. Any ideas? I have treated all the flock for mites even though I haven't seen any, and the coop.

 

[Joshua G]

Do you have a rooster?

 

[aljeffers]

Yes, he is a big Lavender Orpington, do you think he is causing this?

 

[Messipaw]

It looks like rooster markings.

 

[Joshua G]

Yes, he is a big Lavender Orpington, do you think he is causing this?

It's very likely, how many hens do you have?
Do you know what "treading" is?

 

[donrae]

She's the rooster's favorite. You may need to look into increasing the number of hens, pulling the rooster or hen out, something like that.

 

[aljeffers]

There are 8 hens, and no I do not know what treading is.

 

[Joshua G]

Treading is the part of the mating process where a rooster's spurs/claws rake a hen's back while trying to get a foothold, thus usually scratching her and pulling some of her feathers out.
That explains the missing back feathers, the missing neck feathers are from the rooster grabbing them with his beak in order to mount the hen.