Flaking peeling skin on chicken belly

[henhostage]

There are NO mites, lice, or other parasites on her. She's been bathed several times and thoroughly checked.

Our Golden Comets and other white leghorn don't have this happen. We've had this flock for over 2 years and only Henny's skin peels off on her belly and the upper part of the legs. I've isolated her and have been rubbing coconut oil with a little properly distilled (not junk from Target or Amazon) Tea Tree (in case it's a fungus or infection), Lavender (for skin healing), and Frankincense on it nightly. The redness is gone, but as I'm gently rubbing, so much of that soft scabby stuff rubs off. And it keeps coming back.

I have her separated from the rest of the flock. She's been in a kennel in our den for almost two weeks to keep dirt and mess out of it. We put her in a little enclosure in grass for fresh air and sun once a day. But when I let her free-range, she had a dust bath and it took forever to get her clean again.

Anyone else have this? I don't see anything anywhere on chicken skin problems that don't have to do with parasites or bugs.

flock

 

[coach723]

Two thoughts, either fungal or she's resting on that area while roosting (or if not roosting then irritation from bedding she lays in) and the pressure and rubbing is causing irritation.
So if roosting, try to pad the roost where she sleeps, and old bath towel can work, just something they can't peck and eat. An antifungal cream for athletes foot applied a couple of times a day to see if that helps, lotrimin, clotrimazole, etc. While coconut oil and tea tree oil have antifungal properties, sometimes it just takes something stronger. If she's not roosting, then try to get her to, or figure out why she isn't. Look for any other health issues, foot or leg problems that are keeping her from roosting properly.
Her keel bone is pretty prominent also, looks a little under weight. I'd get a weight on her and monitor that, make sure she's eating and drinking well. If you can get a fecal done, I would do that, make sure there are no internal parasites. If she's losing weight, she may be weaker and not roosting properly. They hide illness really well, so sometimes it can go unnoticed if you don't really look hard.

 

[henhostage]

Thank you so much! She does roost (we check on our girls nightly around midnight before we go to bed) so no bedding issues. It's down in the leg creases too so it's not where she's resting.

She and the other 2 White Leghorns have always been skinny. Much skinnier than the Golden Comets (our usual breed). They lay daily and barely show it when they molt, so I haven't been concerned about their weight for the past 2 years.

But I've been giving Henny extra protein, vitamins, and minerals while she's indoors just to help her molt faster because of her lack of belly feathers. I'll try to fatten her up.

I'll focus on anti-fungal and anti-internal-parasite stuff. Thank you so much!!!

 

[Grey Gables]

Curious to hear how your hen does with this! I have one with a similar issue.

 

[henhostage]

After washing her belly with Thieves Household Cleaner (nontoxic and safe for pets - my vet loves it) and rubbing in coconut oil with a drop of Tea Tree, Thieves, Rosemary, Lavender and Cypress twice a day, there is no more peeling. We'll continue to do it until her feathers grow back. I'm giving her extra protein for more rapid feather growth and keeping her separated (although she's in an enclosure in the yard near them in the afternoon so she doesn't feel like she doesn't have a flock)

Curious to hear how your hen does with this! I have one with a similar issue.

 

[Serama77]

Hi henhostage, how is your hen doing now? Is she recovered? Did any of the others get the same thing.? My small flock has similar issues. I can't see any mites but am wondering whether it might be depluming mites under the skin, and have been using oil to suffocate them and ivermectin drops, and now the skin is peeling off a lot for most of them just like yours and worse. Would love to know if you found out what it was?

 

[Courtney61494]

After washing her belly with Thieves Household Cleaner (nontoxic and safe for pets - my vet loves it) and rubbing in coconut oil with a drop of Tea Tree, Thieves, Rosemary, Lavender and Cypress twice a day, there is no more peeling. We'll continue to do it until her feathers grow back. I'm giving her extra protein for more rapid feather growth and keeping her separated (although she's in an enclosure in the yard near them in the afternoon so she doesn't feel like she doesn't have a flock)

also curious if your hens condition improved? My Silkie is isolated right now and is suffering from the same exact skin peeling thing. It’s bizarre.

 

[coach723]

The OP hasn't been back on since that last post. The Thieves household cleaner is a cleaning version of Thieves oil, which is a mix of essential oils. You can make your own, or buy it already mixed. You can search for it and find recipies. It's antibacterial and antifungal, so likely her bird had one of those issues, I did think it could be fungal at that time. When using essential oils you need to make sure they are diluted properly in a carrier oil so that they don't cause irritation, they are too strong undiluted. So you can do what they did, or you can use an over the counter antifungal like, lotrimin, clotrimazole, miconazole, etc, and see if that helps. Coconut oil is also mildly antifungal, so you can try using that also.
This is one sites' claims on Thieves oil: "Thieves essential oil is well known to reduce stress, function as a broad spectrum immune booster, be highly antimicrobial, anti-fungal, antiviral and antibacterial, purify the air, and provide effective protection against airborne pathogens."

 

[Courtney61494]

The OP hasn't been back on since that last post. The Thieves household cleaner is a cleaning version of Thieves oil, which is a mix of essential oils. You can make your own, or buy it already mixed. You can search for it and find recipies. It's antibacterial and antifungal, so likely her bird had one of those issues, I did think it could be fungal at that time. When using essential oils you need to make sure they are diluted properly in a carrier oil so that they don't cause irritation, they are too strong undiluted. So you can do what they did, or you can use an over the counter antifungal like, lotrimin, clotrimazole, miconazole, etc, and see if that helps. Coconut oil is also mildly antifungal, so you can try using that also.
This is one sites' claims on Thieves oil: "Thieves essential oil is well known to reduce stress, function as a broad spectrum immune booster, be highly antimicrobial, anti-fungal, antiviral and antibacterial, purify the air, and provide effective protection against airborne pathogens."

I actually have thieves household cleaner!! I will try to use some on her belly to see if it improves. Thank you.