Hens looseing feathers

[circlel99]

I have 13 hens & half of them are looseing there feathers around their rear ends. Anybody know what causes this.

 

[Soaring Chicks]

How old are they? Around 18 months they molt.
You might want to check for mites/lice too.

 

[tammye]

Hello I'm new here. I have 8 hens and three have blad spots on thier back sides. I have seen two other of my hens plucking feathers off of these girls, several times. I am keeping them separated as much as possible. I put a dog crate into the coop and put the two worst off hens in the crate at night. I was told to put vaseline on the bald spots and to apply lavendar oil, just a touch onto some rear feathers( not onto exposed skin), the pluckers don't like the smell. Keep a look out for blood spots, this can make the other hens peck away at the area until they kill her. If you see any blood, that hen must be separated( I just read this in the Backyard Poultry mag.) Hope this helps, it is taking some work to get the feathers to grow back. Good luck