Hen's wornout back feathers

[joemallo]

I have one rooster and 7 hens in a pen that is 336 sq feet. A couple birds have worn backs that look like this, is this normal?

 

[QueenMisha]

It's normal but it's not good. You need to either rehome the rooster, buy more hens, or purchase hen saddles for the affected birds.

 

[azygous]

I have a couple of hens with backs like that, and it's not from a rooster riding them hard. They have feather munching mates who can't keep their beaks to themselves. Sometimes painting Blu-kote or Pick-no-mor on the bare spots helps. Or saddles, if they will put up with them. Mine refuse to leave them on.

 

[Mrs. K]

I used to think it was the rooster, but now I am not so sure. I have a small flock and a rooster, and some of the birds are barebacked and some are not. Butter, my BO has had 3 different roosters, and has never been barebackes while others in the same flock are without feathers.

I think it was Ridgerunner, who once posted that she got rid of her/his bareback hens, and kept the hens that were not, and got rid of the problem. Her theory, or one that she/he read, is that some hens have brittle feathers, and they break easily.

One thing I am sure of, is it bothers people much more than it bothers hens! I have come to the conclusion that it is not that big of deal, but in the future, I think it will be a trait I breed for.

Mrs K

 

[QueenMisha]

I have a couple of hens with backs like that, and it's not from a rooster riding them hard. They have feather munching mates who can't keep their beaks to themselves. Sometimes painting Blu-kote or Pick-no-mor on the bare spots helps. Or saddles, if they will put up with them. Mine refuse to leave them on.

While it's true that this kind of issue can be caused by feather picking, in a pen with 1 rooster and only 7 hens, the rooster is the likely cause. The ratio is just too low for healthy mating. It's also more common for feather picking birds to pull or break the feather from or near the follicle. It's not very common to see them breaking feathers half way or more up the shaft. Rooster burn also results also more wear on intact feathers; they will be frayed and the barbules won't hold together anymore - something rarely present in picked-out birds. What I'm seeing here is a combo of frayed feathers + upper shafts broken + poor roostern ratio, making feather picking less likely by far.

 

[QueenMisha]

I used to think it was the rooster, but now I am not so sure. I have a small flock and a rooster, and some of the birds are barebacked and some are not. Butter, my BO has had 3 different roosters, and has never been barebackes while others in the same flock are without feathers.

I think it was Ridgerunner, who once posted that she got rid of her/his bareback hens, and kept the hens that were not, and got rid of the problem. Her theory, or one that she/he read, is that some hens have brittle feathers, and they break easily.

One thing I am sure of, is it bothers people much more than it bothers hens! I have come to the conclusion that it is not that big of deal, but in the future, I think it will be a trait I breed for.

Mrs K

I wouldn't really call that a sound theory. I have had a lot of rooster burn/feather loss issues in the past, and it resulted in every single hen becoming rooster burned. There was no variance among breeds, ages, hatchery or breeder stock, or any other differences. The only bird who remained intact was a flighty Sumatra pullet - and that has to do with her quick legs and big wings, not her feathers, for sure.

You also have the fact that a rooster's favorite hen is more likely to become rooster burned. I have experienced this first hand as well. Sure, if you get rid of certain rooster burned hens, you are probably getting rid of the male's favorites, therefore rooster burn will be lessened because he has less interest in the other females.

A mild case won't bother hens, I do agree there. However an extreme case has many negative effects, both direct and indirect. Firstly, a hen who is badly rooster burned is going to be under extreme stress, and most likely physically beaten down by the rooster's attention as well. Next, you have sunburn/dry skin issues - VERY common in badly rooster burned hens. Just as her bare back will not be protected from the sun, it will neither be protected from cold winters, and a hen will fare worse during the cold season. Thirdly, the feathers have the function of protecting a hen's thin, easily torn skin. Without them, a rooster with large spurs can easily cause severe, bloody injury, which when gone untreated can become infected with ease.

 

[Mrs. K]

To continue the debate in the most respectful way.

In my own flock, I have two birds out of 6 that have no feather damage. My rooster is a mature rooster as in over a year in age, and not a randy juvenile, which of course can cause a great deal of mating. My point is, that my hens do not run from the rooster, they adore him. Generally speaking they stay quite close to him, both the ones with bare backs, and the ones with no barebacks.

I do agree, that this is probably not only due to the quality of the hen's feathers, but rather the combination of the hens feathers, her body shape, the technique of the roosters, his body shape and balance. I don't think barebacks have a single cause. However, I do find it significant that not all of my hens are barebacked, however all of their eggs are fertile. I do have a very good rooster, and the occasional mating act I see, is not very violent at all.

All of these things contribute to the presence or lack of feathers on the back.

While, I am sure that some of the consequences to bare backs are possible, I have never had a single occurance of those problems in 7 years of keeping chickens. In the beginning I rather worried about barebacks, even tried the aprons. However, I do spend time observing my chickens, and their interactions, and it occured to me, that the barebacked chickens were not losing weight, were not laying less eggs and were not lathargic. They were normal, active chickens.

Mrs K

 

[donrae]

I'm also thinking it's not always related to mating, or not so simple as a ratio. I have a hen who was in a flock of about 15 hens and one rooster. I never noticed him especially mating her over the others. I moved her to a breeding pen where she's the only hen for one rooster and her feathers are regrowing nicely.

I also have a breeding pen of 1 rooster and 3 hens. None of those hens are bare. So it's not always a simple math equation. I agree some birds just have more brittle feathers, and it doesn't seem to bother the hens near as much as the humans.