What is wrong with my pullets, and how can I fix it?

[Lpsouth1978]

Hello all,

We have 11 pullets that are 6 months old. They are all doing well for the most part, however, a few are losing feathers near the rump and the skin seems irritated and dry. I don't see any mites or bugs. They are fed a 16% layer feed and free choice oyster shell. We also feed kitchen scraps, garden scraps, and dried BSFL. The affected birds are still laying and active. The other concern is for the Easter Egger. I think she may be struggling with the heat, but I am not sure. Today she was kind of spreading her wings and panting while standing around. It was about 80 degrees here today, so I am not sure heat was the problem. The coop is open air, and the run is fully covered with shade cloth.

Please let me know what you think and What I can do help these girls.

On a side note, we are preparing to move them to a much larger area and new coop that is double the size. Probably in the next week, 2 max.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Do you have any males? That looks like aggressive breeding damage on the bottom picture

 

[Lpsouth1978]

Do you have any males? That looks like aggressive breeding damage on the bottom picture

No males, we only have the 11 Pullets.

 

[Brittbee]

You have a plucker in your flock. Someone's pecking at feathers.

 

[nuthatched]

Cut out all the extras and switch to a higher protein feed, birds of pluck from nutrition deficiency.

 

[NanaK]

Could be a feather plucker.
Also..
Sometimes a female will try to dominate other females and assume the breeding position by mounting another hen. This is strictly showing dominance nothing to do with breeding. It will leave the same damage as shown.

 

[Lpsouth1978]

Thank you all for the input. We are moving the girls to the new coop and run this weekend, so hopefully the added space will help. I guess we will see.

As for changing to a higher protein feed, that won't be happening for at least a couple months. We just picked up our feed 2 weeks ago, and won't be getting more until the end of May or early June. We may switch to a 20% feed at that point. We order our feed from a feed mill and get delivery every 2 months.