Hens With Naked Butts

[Irishgirl]

DE is diatomaceous earth, the fossilized remains of plankton. If you do use DE, make sure you use the food grade stuff and not the pool grade.
The food grade is much finer, while the pool grade is very coarse and may damage their skin.

 

[crazyhatch]

Tyljar6601 just curious what did you find with your hens today

 

[tylgar6601]

...

Tyljar6601 just curious what did you find with your hens today[/
Thank you for asking about my girls. After lots of examining (even with a magnifying glass) we have NO MITES on chickens or in our hen house I checked during the day and also at night. I do believe they are molting. The feathers are starting to grow back. Didn't notice till I really got them and looked close. A lot of the girls that had naked bottoms have grown feathers back already. I think also sat and watched them for awhile yesterday and they weren't pecking at each other while I was out there. Don't know about while they are on the roost though.
I do have ANOTHER QUESTION I mentioned in my earlier question that we got 2 roosters and put in with our 25 girls. They are Buff Orpingtons roosters that are about a year old. I think they have transitioned well, but I have noticed some of my girls seem to want to "groom" them. They dont seem to be pecking them they just seem to be a bit curious about the boys. One rooster seems to have lost some of his longer feathers around his back and side. He doesn't seem to mind this at all, but I do think this is the reason for the feathers thinking. He seems to have more "fluff" now than feathers. Is this just part of the pecking order or should I be worried? These are the first chickens we have introduced to our girls. We got all 25 girls at the same time and don't know what is normal when you add a new chicken to an existing flock. Thanks for any advice

 

[crazyhatch]

I think they are fine. Not sure why rooster lost his longer feathers unless he was molting. I noticed on ocassion that our hens do what we call clean the roo. Kind of what you discribed your hens doing. I do know our roosters do not dust bathe so wondering if this might be part of it. Good question though i would be interested in knowing

 

[Texokie1]

tylgar6601 - any updates? I just read this thread, and I have the same thing going on with two of my girls. I couldn't find any lice/mites, but I went ahead and 1.) moved them from the barn back their summer tractor a bit earlier than planned last week (cleaned/dusted it prior to putting the girls back in), 2.) lightly dusted the girls with poultry dust, and 3.) added food-grade DE to their favorite free-range dusting spot. I don't notice them pecking at each other...and the roosts used in the barn were the same level...but it is a little suspicious that the two affected are lowest in the pecking order. Still eating fine/laying fine...very active when turned out of the tractor to free-range...they are JUST getting ready to turn 1-year old. Weirdly, the skin is pale and smooth (doesn't seem to be irritated). Just wondered if you had any luck. I haven't increased protein yet (unless you count mealworm treats

)...might try that if I don't see any improvement...

 

[emmapal]

I don't think it is molting (we have one hen missing all her vent feathers like this that my kids have taken to calling "nakey bum"). Personally, I am noticing that after several months of thinking she was molting, treating her for lice, watching for a feather picker (which is unlikely since there is never any blood, scabs, scratches, or wounds that might indicate cannibalism), waiting for them to grow back (no signs of new shaft tubules at all for months), the skin becoming very fragile dry flaky, and now finally watching her vigor decline, that it is an infection. My guess is yeast: I am going to try miconazole nitrate cream for a yeast infection. If that doesn't work, I will try an antiseptic cream in case of a bacterial infection.

If it was a molt, it would be over and done with far sooner than this is taking, and with zero sign of feather shafts regrowing that usually show up quite quickly on bald spots during a normal molt.

Now perhaps it started with the lice, for which she was successfully treated, that got things started, but that can cause secondary infections. Will let you know how it goes after medicating her poor naked bald flaky scaly rear end.

 

[emmapal]

So it has been a month since I caught naked butt, sprayed her for lice (again) and sprayed her with an antifungal. STILL no sign of any feather regrowth. She has been this way now for nearly a year. Not a molt, she must have some sort of skin disease/infection, but I don't know what to use next to treat it. Anyone had success treating this condition?

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I recommend that you test or treat for de-pluming mites. De-pluming mites live in the shaft or feather quill and are quite invisible to a visual examination.

 

[emmapal]

Wouldnt treating for lice as i have been, spraying pyrethrin under each wing and vent area, be effective as a mite treatment?

 

[FeatheredFreind]

I recommend that you test or treat for de-pluming mites.  De-pluming mites live in the shaft or feather quill and are quite invisible to a visual examination.

How do you treat for de-pluming mites?