I had read on here that Orpingtons have softer feathers than other chickens. I know that my Brahmas didn't get pulled bald, but most of my Orp hens spent the winter of 2010 - the worst in decades - nekkid on their topsides.
What was really bad was that eventually the roosters started gashing the nekkid hens, one quite deeply.
So I put the roosters in separate pens inside the main pen for several months until the hens healed up and grew their feathers completely back. Now each rooster gets to go out with the hens on alternate late afternoons, when I let them out to range. It seems like a good balance; the girls have kept their feathers on this winter!
What was really bad was that eventually the roosters started gashing the nekkid hens, one quite deeply.
So I put the roosters in separate pens inside the main pen for several months until the hens healed up and grew their feathers completely back. Now each rooster gets to go out with the hens on alternate late afternoons, when I let them out to range. It seems like a good balance; the girls have kept their feathers on this winter!
