Bald butt for 2 months and it’s getting cold

[Doress]

Hi all!
I have a ~4 year old black copper maran (BCM) who I’ve had for 3.5 years (with the same flock the whole time) who developed a bald butt in mid August or so. We snagged her for a closer look, and I didn’t see any evidence of lice or mites, the skin didn’t look damaged or broken, it wasn’t red, and there were feather shafts there, so I was thinking it was just an early localized molt. It’s now November and there hasn’t been much progress in replacing those feathers and I’m concerned as it’s getting cold. The pictures here are before and after a butt bath about a week ago when I wanted to take another look.

She has been sleeping in the nesting box lately. I don’t know if she’s being bullied off the roost at night or if she’s in there voluntarily to keep her butt warm. I have not seen any evidence of bullying and these birds have all been together with no changes for 3.5 years.

They’re on a pellet layer feed, they get dried mealworms as treats, and I’ve tried increasing their protein intake with yogurt, chopped meat scraps, etc. The rest of the birds have gone into their usual fall molt but they’re almost through it. I’m not sure what to do. I don’t want her to get frostbite but I don’t really want to have a chicken in the house all winter either. I dewormed all of them when they stopped laying. My next step is to slather her butt with nu-stock as I read they don’t like the taste so if she’s overpreening or if the other birds are pulling out her feathers, it may help them stop.

I don’t know what else to do. Is it vet time?

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. It looks like she has pin feathers coming in quickly, so the Nustock may be helpful. It is a horse cream made from sulfur powder and pine oil, and if your feed store doesn’t sell it, you can get it online. Her lower belly looks enlarged either from water belly or internal laying masses inside. There may be yellow fluid inside her belly. That is abnormal and may eventually kill her one day, but it makes her bottom rather big and prominent. Poop may get stuck on it, and others may peck at it. What do her poops look like? Pictures are welcome. Has she laid eggs recently? Has she been eating? Does her crop empty by early morning?

 

[Doress]

Welcome to BYC. It looks like she has pin feathers coming in quickly, so the Nustock may be helpful. It is a horse cream made from sulfur powder and pine oil, and if your feed store doesn’t sell it, you can get it online. Her lower belly looks enlarged either from water belly or internal laying masses inside. There may be yellow fluid inside her belly. That is abnormal and may eventually kill her one day, but it makes her bottom rather big and prominent. Poop may get stuck on it, and others may peck at it. What do her poops look like? Pictures are welcome. Has she laid eggs recently? Has she been eating? Does her crop empty by early morning?

I just got the nustock in the mail, so I’ll get that done as soon as I get some daylight and a second pair of hands. She’s always been a hefty girl. She had a bit of poo which required the butt bath, but I was wondering if it was because she was sleeping in the box and was basically sitting in a mess which then dried onto her feathers. Unfortunately I have no daylight with which to check anything until time change this Sunday. The poop clump I pulled off of her was round and looked totally normal. I don’t know if she’s laid an egg lately. They’ve all stopped entirely but it would be hard to tell as three of the hens lay the same color eggs. She’s definitely been eating; she dashes over when she sees me and always goes for the treats. I’ll try and get a look at her crop one morning.

 

[Doress]

I just got the nustock in the mail, so I’ll get that done as soon as I get some daylight and a second pair of hands. She’s always been a hefty girl. She had a bit of poo which required the butt bath, but I was wondering if it was because she was sleeping in the box and was basically sitting in a mess which then dried onto her feathers. Unfortunately I have no daylight with which to check anything until time change this Sunday. The poop clump I pulled off of her was round and looked totally normal. I don’t know if she’s laid an egg lately. They’ve all stopped entirely but it would be hard to tell as three of the hens lay the same color eggs. She’s definitely been eating; she dashes over when she sees me and always goes for the treats. I’ll try and get a look at her crop one morning.

Also , yes it looks like feathers are coming in quickly but it looked like that in August too, and they never finished coming in.