Why are my chickens losing feathers?

[Chinnywhisperer]

Hi Im Dani (aka Chinnywhisperer)! Im new on BYC. I have 17 chickens. At least 2 of them have a bald spot where there back and tail feathers meet. I have seen some of my other chickens pecking this area but are they pecking because theres something wrong or they the cause of the bald spot. Please help with any info you have on this. Thanks!

 

[amillecay]

I've had this on my chickens too, it was in the winter and it moved up the back, I thought maybe it was from the rooster but then later I saw it looked a little different when the rooster did it sooo I checked for mites and all kinds of stuff, I never found anything except they had been pecking at it a bit some of them still have a little bit of a bald spot but it's mostly all grown in, keep a very very close eye on them to make sure no one pecks off skin it might turn into a bit of a nightmare if that happens because you'll have to separate them and so fourth. You may just have to wait till they molt or start growing back the feathers that's what I ended up having to do.