Sorry if there are other posts about this but I have a few ?s. I have a flock of 6 month olds, and about 5 hens that are 14 months old. Suddenly this week I have had a drop in egg production of about 5-6 eggs a day. Could my older birds be molting???? That would account for the missing eggs. They are also losing the feathers on their backs, right above their tails. How long do molts last? How long will they go without laying? Could this be anything else? The only thing that has changed in the past week is that 2 other chickens got hit by cars....
When my chickens molted it lasted a month or so. and they only lost feathers around neck. Yours sounds like breeding marks from your rooster( if you have one).and your egg production problem is probably stress on the birds. Most of my birds are bald or going bald on the back by the tail and some worn spots on back of wings.