Moult? Or something else?

[McBain]

So I added 4 buff orphingtons about a month and a half ago to my flock. They were from a breeder in my area. They came in full moult...all have regrown their head feathers except one. And 3 of them still are still working on getting their back feathers. But one in particular has me a bit concerned one she developed vent gleet. Yuck! But im treating it. But while bathing her ive noticed that some of her feathers seem engrown. And dried up...ugh her back looks rough. Not to mention my rooster got her good...which im treating with polysporin. She isnt being over bred cause ice got 14 hens to one rooster and hes not excessively after her. Anyways...just unsure if i should be concerned..or if this is normal for Orpingtons. Ive only had Brahmas and they rarely moult and when they do its fast.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Welcome To BYC!

The broken feathers have the shafts still intact (black arrows) so those will not be replaced until she molts.
More of interest is the circle - hers and my black circle - what is that? A hole in her back? How large is that would you say? Is the "white" a large feather shaft?
I don't think I've ever seen anything like that before, I'm going to tag a few people in @Eggcessive @dawg53 @coach723 @casportpony @azygous

I'm not a fan of separating unless it's necessary, but in this case, I think I would separate her to another run/housing so she can heal and have a break. She has some injuries from the rooster that need to be tended (even if he's not aggressive toward her, he will still mate her and can open the wound back up).
Also if she has Vent Gleet - yep....that can be passed along to the rooster as well since they do touch vents during mating - then, of course, he can pass that on.

 

[azygous]

I see a few white spots that appear to be ingrown feathers. I've had this happen in a couple of my large breed hens, Cochin and Brahma. I took an Xacto knife and made a tiny nick in the center and one time the feather shaft popped out on its own like a jack-in-the-box. The other required tweezers to free it. I painted Blu-kote on them and that was it.

Your hen's back appears quite red. Is she out in the sun a lot? Chickens with bare backs can get painful sunburns. I have used sunscreen sprayed onto the back successfully. The spray-on kind is especially convenient for hens that hate to be handled. I could spray the back while the hen was actually running from me. Ha! Ha!

 

[McBain]

It had a feather growing in it. I pulled the feather out but the feather shaft seems to still be in there as well as chalky/waxy stuff. I tried to clean out best I could and after the photo i put polysporin on it. I was thinking it was a nasty ingrown feather that created at white bulge.
Im not too happy with the lady I bought them from. She is well known in the area and spoken of highly but I dont know somethinhlg seems off with them. They all did however grow back their head feathers..she did say they came out of breeding stock. So maybe they were excessively bred at her place and the girls arent actually in a moult but feathers head feathers were lost by roosters grabbing on them and back feathers broken?...

Welcome To BYC!

The broken feathers have the shafts still intact (black arrows) so those will not be replaced until she molts.
More of interest is the circle - hers and my black circle - what is that? A hole in her back? How large is that would you say? Is the "white" a large feather shaft?
I don't think I've ever seen anything like that before, I'm going to tag a few people in @Eggcessive @dawg53 @coach723 @casportpony @azygous

I'm not a fan of separating unless it's necessary, but in this case, I think I would separate her to another run/housing so she can heal and have a break. She has some injuries from the rooster that need to be tended (even if he's not aggressive toward her, he will still mate her and can open the wound back up).
Also if she has Vent Gleet - yep....that can be passed along to the rooster as well since they do touch vents during mating - then, of course, he can pass that on.

View attachment 1909970

 

[McBain]

Yes could be...they get alot of free range time...and love their sun bathing while having dirt baths.

Also wondering if maybe they have mites?

Im kinda new to having this many hens. Im only a little ovet a year into having hens and for most of it I had 3 only and so with just them it was reallt easy to manage any issues that came up.

I see a few white spots that appear to be ingrown feathers. I've had this happen in a couple of my large breed hens, Cochin and Brahma. I took an Xacto knife and made a tiny nick in the center and one time the feather shaft popped out on its own like a jack-in-the-box. The other required tweezers to free it. I painted Blu-kote on them and that was it.

Your hen's back appears quite red. Is she out in the sun a lot? Chickens with bare backs can get painful sunburns. I have used sunscreen sprayed onto the back successfully. The spray-on kind is especially convenient for hens that hate to be handled. I could spray the back while the hen was actually running from me. Ha! Ha!

 

[McBain]

I should add all four opringtons have been great layers even with their feather loss and the one having vent gleet

 

[Wyorp Rock]

It had a feather growing in it. I pulled the feather out but the feather shaft seems to still be in there as well as chalky/waxy stuff. I tried to clean out best I could and after the photo i put polysporin on it. I was thinking it was a nasty ingrown feather that created at white bulge.
Im not too happy with the lady I bought them from. She is well known in the area and spoken of highly but I dont know somethinhlg seems off with them. They all did however grow back their head feathers..she did say they came out of breeding stock. So maybe they were excessively bred at her place and the girls arent actually in a moult but feathers head feathers were lost by roosters grabbing on them and back feathers broken?...

Yes, most of it looks like rooster damage.
If that white circle was where you pulled a feather, then I would do as @azygous suggested in post#3 and work on that some more.
The rest that are just broken feathers, you will just have to wait until she molts. A lot of times head feathers come back in a bit better since the whole feather is ripped out during mating (sounds bad, but at least they don't end up looking like the back). I would still separate her since she's got the wounds and Vent Gleet.

 

[DuckWhisperer06]

Since you’ll have to wait until she molts for her back feathers to come back in, maybe you could buy or make some hen saddles/aprons. This can protect her from the sun and possibly more damage from the rooster.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Yes could be...they get alot of free range time...and love their sun bathing while having dirt baths.

Also wondering if maybe they have mites?

Im kinda new to having this many hens. Im only a little ovet a year into having hens and for most of it I had 3 only and so with just them it was reallt easy to manage any issues that came up.

To check for mites, inspect them while roosting. Look around the vent, under the wings, etc. Most all poultry mites live in the coop and come out to feed at night. Poultry Lice for the most part live on the bird.
The article linked has some good photos and description of mites/lice.
https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/

 

[cmom]

Not sure about the male picking on your female but often times the male will have favorite females he prefers to mate with. I would separate your female for awhile while she heals and check your flock for any other pests and treat as necessary. Because not all mites live on the birds and some only come out at night to feed on the birds, I would go into the coop at night while they are roosting. I use a head lamp so my hands are free and check the birds over well. Good luck...