Just Dandruff?

[Moodleroni]

Not an emergency, but topic best fits this thread since I don't know what this is:

I have 14 chickens total, 3 roosters & 11 hens. I check 1-2 chickens rotating, daily for bugs, visual signs of illness or injury. I dont have the time or energy to check all 14 all the time, and don't want to stress everyone out too much, so I've found this works best for me/us. So far, so good, except yesterday, I found this on the back of his neck, just below his head, of one of my roos.

It's about a 2"×2" area, hidden by his neck feathers, only able to see it when I pick up all his neck feathers. It looks like really thick dandruff, has pin feathers in the area but no full grown feathers in the patch. He has no other signs of anything, no signs of bugs that I can see, and he is acting, eating, drinking, and alfa-rooing like normal. He's about a year & a half, eats flock raiser feed, and fruits/veggies daily. He's the head honcho so he basically wants for nothing.

No one else has anything similar and no one is showing signs of anything that I've seen. No bugs in the coop & I've checked at night under their roosts.

Sorry the pic is blurry, I got bitch-flapped trying to get a pic, apparently I didn't have proper permission/permits to take his picture

Anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Looks like a patch of dry skin, dandruff with new feathers coming in.

I'd monitor to see if it improves once the feathers finally come on in. Do you ever see him dust bath?

 

[Patiocoturnix]

Not an emergency, but topic best fits this thread since I don't know what this is:

I have 14 chickens total, 3 roosters & 11 hens. I check 1-2 chickens rotating, daily for bugs, visual signs of illness or injury. I dont have the time or energy to check all 14 all the time, and don't want to stress everyone out too much, so I've found this works best for me/us. So far, so good, except yesterday, I found this on the back of his neck, just below his head, of one of my roos.
View attachment 3645514
It's about a 2"×2" area, hidden by his neck feathers, only able to see it when I pick up all his neck feathers. It looks like really thick dandruff, has pin feathers in the area but no full grown feathers in the patch. He has no other signs of anything, no signs of bugs that I can see, and he is acting, eating, drinking, and alfa-rooing like normal. He's about a year & a half, eats flock raiser feed, and fruits/veggies daily. He's the head honcho so he basically wants for nothing.

No one else has anything similar and no one is showing signs of anything that I've seen. No bugs in the coop & I've checked at night under their roosts.

Sorry the pic is blurry, I got bitch-flapped trying to get a pic, apparently I didn't have proper permission/permits to take his picture

Anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance!

To me it looks like he may have gotten picked at and it scanned over a little bit and new pin feathers are just starting to come in.

 

[Patiocoturnix]

To me it looks like he may have gotten picked at and it scanned over a little bit and new pin feathers are just starting to come in.

Or like you said dandruff/dry skin.

 

[Patiocoturnix]

Not an emergency, but topic best fits this thread since I don't know what this is:

I have 14 chickens total, 3 roosters & 11 hens. I check 1-2 chickens rotating, daily for bugs, visual signs of illness or injury. I dont have the time or energy to check all 14 all the time, and don't want to stress everyone out too much, so I've found this works best for me/us. So far, so good, except yesterday, I found this on the back of his neck, just below his head, of one of my roos.
View attachment 3645514
It's about a 2"×2" area, hidden by his neck feathers, only able to see it when I pick up all his neck feathers. It looks like really thick dandruff, has pin feathers in the area but no full grown feathers in the patch. He has no other signs of anything, no signs of bugs that I can see, and he is acting, eating, drinking, and alfa-rooing like normal. He's about a year & a half, eats flock raiser feed, and fruits/veggies daily. He's the head honcho so he basically wants for nothing.

No one else has anything similar and no one is showing signs of anything that I've seen. No bugs in the coop & I've checked at night under their roosts.

Sorry the pic is blurry, I got bitch-flapped trying to get a pic, apparently I didn't have proper permission/permits to take his picture

Anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance!

Just saying it here as well so it’s in both of you threads but it looks like scabs from picking or like you said dandruff or dry skin with new feathers growing in just keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t get worse.

 

[Moodleroni]

Looks like a patch of dry skin, dandruff with new feathers coming in.

I'd monitor to see if it improves once the feathers finally come on in. Do you ever see him dust bath?

Yes he does, multiple times a day.
He actually instigates group bathing and then you just see a pile of chickens, laying on their sides like they're gimp or something with dust flying everywhere. They have a little dust bathing area that includes DE and herbs to keep bugs away.

 

[Moodleroni]

To me it looks like he may have gotten picked at and it scanned over a little bit and new pin feathers are just starting to come in.

I initially thought so too, but he's head roo and usually the other roos run from him when he gets close unless they are bathing, eating, or sleeping together.
I do see the girls preen him sometimes but that would have been a really aggressive preening if that's the case.

 

[Moodleroni]

Oh my goodness, not sure why it posted twice

Sorry & thank you!!

 

[Chicalina]

"bitch-flapped" such a perfect description!

My rooster had flaky skin like this and a persistent case of scaly leg mites. It looks like the crud that the mites leave behind on their legs, but on the skin.

I would treat for mites with ivermectin and see whether it clears up. Also no harm in rubbing olive oil into the dry patches the same you do with the feet for mites.

 

[Moodleroni]

My rooster had flaky skin like this and a persistent case of scaly leg mites. It looks like the crud that the mites leave behind on their legs, but on the skin.

Oh no!
Ok, ill keep an eye on it, see if it's improving. If not, ill try the ivermectin and olive oil

"bitch-flapped" such a perfect description!

I know right!? You knew EXACTLY what happened to my face!