Bare back hens

[kenya]

When the rooster breeds her he kind of treads on her back this is when he damages the feathers on her back, he also hangs on to the back of her head which damages the feathers there. Just normal behaviour.

[KimChick]

We have decided to put the door back up and separate the hens as they were in the first place. BSL on one side and (Slow Growth Dual Purpose) Red hens and the rooster on the other. The rooster is really too large for the little black hens, and we don't want any of them to get injured when the rooster gets on them.
Since they do still go to their respective coops at night, we will still let them have their free run to eat fresh grass and bugs in the early evening. It takes two of us to get them back into their fenced in yard, but they are being conditioned quite well with our method.

[KimChick]

When the rooster breeds her he kind of treads on her back this is when he damages the feathers on her back, he also hangs on to the back of her head which damages the feathers there. Just normal behaviour.

Yup, that's what he does.
And now that they are separated for most of the day, except when we let them have a run out of their pen, the hens' back feathers are growing back.

[KimChick]

Funny thing, though, there is one red hen that has all her feathers. We call her the prima donna; I think she shuns the rooster.

[Nome89]

I have some that have all their feathers to.... the ones missing them are just his fav ladies

[Silkie Sue]

These work great

[KimChick]

Saddles work well. Check whether he is taking the feathers out on top of the wing joint too because you can get a saddle with a wing cover too.
My hens got their revenge, I noticed them carefully plucking one of my boys legs bare!

HaHa!! And that's probably why our rooster has a bare butt!

[Nome89]

I just noticed this week that the girls are getting their revenge!
"Norm" is missing quite a few feathers himself... haha Payback

[windwalkingwolf]

My hens delight in plucking a roosters beard and muffs. The more they like him, the faster and more thoroughly they 'shave' him!