Several pullets with balding backs- anything I should do to help?

[RobinS1217]

Hello-
We have a flock of 30 made up of 8-3yo hens, 14- pullers, 1 rooster almost a year and 6 new hatches. I’ve noticed within the last months that my black astralorps are loosing feathers on their back between their wings. A few of my comets have show similar feather loss but not as drastically. I checked for mites and lice but saw nothing. I sprayed them all with PSP, changed their bedding and treated with new lime. It didn’t make a difference and it wasn’t spreading so my concern faded…Until today. One of the astralorps now has a visible bald spot. It is not raw, pink, red, or obviously wounded. It does have what appear to be scabs. I’m assuming my rooster must favor the ones with feather loss. Is there something I should do about this? Based off his age I do not think his “Spurs” can cause damage as they aren’t fully in. I’ve tried to get pictures but they are QUICK and I haven’t been able to catch them today pictured is one of damaged back of astralorp and of golden comet

 

[Sally PB]

Two things you can do if it's from your rooster:

Trim/file the rooster's spurs so that they are shorter and the tips are more rounded.

Get some chicken saddles (aka, aprons) to cover the backs of the chickens who are losing feathers.

 

[RobinS1217]

Two things you can do if it's from your rooster:

Trim/file the rooster's spurs so that they are shorter and the tips are more rounded.

Get some chicken saddles (aka, aprons) to cover the backs of the chickens who are losing feathers.

Thank you sally! Other than lice/mites/rooster is there anything else it could potentially be?

 

[Sally PB]

It could be feather picking, ie, other girls pecking at the feathers. If that's it (you catch one in the act), try giving them a higher protein feed. Feather picking can be a result of the birds not getting enough protein.

 

[MarlaMac]

Be careful in choosing saddles for your girls. I have a BA that is currently bare back. We noticed the thinning feathers like your girl and thought (and still think) it is a mating issue. We got a saddle and put in on her. Kept it on for about 5 days. When we took it off not only did the back not recover at all, her wings were also worn by the saddle. Now we have a bare back with bare wings.

Since then I have read that if you are going to use a saddle make sure the fabric touching the bird is very soft, like fleece. Ours was not and I feel we did more damage by using it. Now we are just treating her with antibiotic ointment and seeing how that goes. Very slow to recover.

 

[RobinS1217]

Be careful in choosing saddles for your girls. I have a BA that is currently bare back. We noticed the thinning feathers like your girl and thought (and still think) it is a mating issue. We got a saddle and put in on her. Kept it on for about 5 days. When we took it off not only did the back not recover at all, her wings were also worn by the saddle. Now we have a bare back with bare wings.

Since then I have read that if you are going to use a saddle make sure the fabric touching the bird is very soft, like fleece. Ours was not and I feel we did more damage by using it. Now we are just treating her with antibiotic ointment and seeing how that goes. Very slow to recover.

Sorry to hear about that- thanks for sharing your experience. I don’t think I’m going to intervene. They have beyond plenty of space and our rooster has 24 hens to choose from so unfortunately I think he just has favorites. There is no evidence of others picking. I watched them for 2 hours yesterday and didn’t see anything. I’ll let nature take its course on this one. Good luck to you!