(some) hens missing back feathers

[mzimmers]

Hi all -

I don't know whether I should be concerned or not, but I'd rather err on the side of caution. I have 9 Wyandotte hens and one rooster, all in their first year of life. Recently I noticed a few of the hens missing their back feathers. You can't really tell from this picture, but it's a little reddish where the feathers are missing. Could this be due to some disease/disorder, or might it be the rooster being obnoxious?

Thanks for any insight.

 

[Wezdin]

It does look like the rooster might be being a bit rough, i had a wyandotte who's back looked identical.

 

[Punkybrewster]

The ones with bald backs are the roosters favorites. They are being overmated.

One solution would be to separate him in a different pen for a while.

 

[poultryprofessor]

Classic sign of an enthusiastic rooster. It's pretty normal. You can try hen saddles to protect the feathers/skin or remove the rooster to a separate pen, but the feathers likely won't grow back until the hens molt.

 

[mzimmers]

OK, thanks everyone. I might have to convert the rooster into a dual-use bird...

 

[HelpmeLuvmychickens]

I have about 5 hens like this too. Dumb question, can my gentle giant have his nails clipped or is there a product available that I could put on his nails? What are hen saddles, where can I get them, would I still need to separate the rooster after using the saddles? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.