Red featherless butts

[mobius]

ok, my chickens are fine. However, I have a question~!

I recently went to a heritage town where they keep chickens and other livestock. Well, I love this idea and the town, but I looked at their Barred Rocks and nearly all of the chickens (there were about ten) had featherless RED butts. I knew there was something wrong and notified the livestock carers about it.

The thing is I came home and I researched and researched but I could NOT find out what this was!

Sorry guys, no pics. Wah! The chickens seemed to have enough room although they were on just bare dirt in the run and not able to forage.

So they had their tails but their butts were featherless and BRIGHT red. I thought of three things I mentioned to the livestock people: yeast, worms or parasites.

Anyway this is still a mystery to me and I can't seem to find an answer...any ideas?

 

[mobius]

Here are some turkey pics tho to give you an idea of the space/area...

 

[toomuch]

My neighbor gave me a Barred Rock Rooster that didn't have any feathers in his butt. Fast forward 1 year later they still haven't grown back and his butt is still bright red. None of my chickens have this problem. But my rooster is fully functioning so i don't think he has a disease.

 

[mobius]

I hope that is true that there isn't a problem. It sure looked painful...and some of the hens had more feathers than others....

 

[toomuch]

Here is my rooster

 

[mobius]

YES! it was just that bright red! Good pic! But feather loss over entire butt area below vent. Eew! Glad to hear your barred rock is in fine fettle. It just doesn't seem normal to me...mine are all fully feathered in that area!

 

[User395221]

It just doesn't seem normal to me...mine are all fully feathered in that area!

I have one hen who has a bum like that. It isn't normal, insofar as it never used to be like that, and none of her "sisters" have it either. At first I'd thought she'd moulted, but the pin feathers didn't seem to be coming through. The guy at the chook farm suggested it could be bugs, even if there didn't seem to be any. I've given her a squirt with some insecticide to see if it makes her feathers come back in.

 

[mobius]

@Wyorp Rock any ideas? I am just quite curious about this? Who might know?

 

[chitownhens]

I had some hens with red butts. Some of it was feather picking so I got a flock block which helped. One RIR was bare for close to 2 years couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. I bought Elector PSP which cost a small fortune. Cleaned the coop inside and out. Picked up about 55 gallons of wood ash from a local pizza place for the dust bath and it didn't help. Once I stopped feeding them too many restaurant food scraps which might have had too much salt it finally stopped. What was unusual about it was once she grew her feathers backed her personality changed as if it was something hormonal. You could no longer pick her up and she all of a sudden became skittish. After a few months she went back to being normal which is very relaxed, easily picked up and enjoying lounging on anyone's lap.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I don't know the cause

I have 2 Barred Rocks that do the same thing. Their bums will lose color when they molt, they grow fluff back in. Once they resume laying, the fluff eventually seems to be rubbed/worn off. The red could be an indication of fertility like it is in roosters, but who knows....I have not found a reference anywhere, it's just speculation.

If I wade through the fluff on my BO rooster and the other hens that are laying, they do have red on their bums to some degree. But minimal feather loss on these hens.

It never hurts to check for parasites. I have found none, but have treated anyway. For my BR girls, once the redness really starts to show through, I usually apply some Blu Kote.

I've also watched closely for any feather picking - both are top tier on the pecking order - no one touches them.
We can only guess...I hope someone else might have an answer for you.