Questions about hens losing feathers from rough rooster

[makingshift]

Our dominant rooster had two hens that he preferred over the others. One of them in particular got a balding patch on her back so I removed both hens and put them in a different coop/run. They've been separated from him for over a month now and neither of them seems to have regrown any feathers. I had expected to see some little pinfeathers growing back in right away. Does anyone have any experience with this? Will they not regrow feathers until they molt? Also- I'm hoping to reintroduce these two hens to the main coop (with the rooster) at some point. Is that even a feasible idea or will he always be too hard on these old faves?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[sparrker]

Same thing happened to me. Feathers didn't grow back till molt and I put a saddle blanket on the hens to protect their backs