14 Hens, one plucked bald bottom?

[BarredRockMom]

Is your "bald butt" one a Buff Orpington by chance? Have you seen the others pick at her? Reason I am asking, is my favorite chicken, "Henny Penny", is a Buff Orpington, and her hinny looked very similar to yours (only much worse). The other chickens did not pick at her (I wondered, so I sat in the coop many times checking), and she did not pick at herself. So I knew something else was going on. Her vent was clean, and no pests of any kind were apparent.

She is now 3 years old but for almost a year, she had a very red "baboon butt", which seemed to start after a bout of diarrhea. Poor thing looked uncomfortable and very red, almost scalded, with no feathers.

I tried topical salves, various "diaper rash" ointments, but nothing helped until I finally took her to my vet. She prescribed a dose of antibiotics, which I was reluctant to give at first as I try to keep everything organic and natural on my farm.

Finally I broke down, gave Henny Penny the meds, and segregated her eggs. Within two weeks, she cleared up beautifully and regrew all her hindquarter feathers. She looks great now and seems very happy. Knock wood, no reoccurrence of "baboon butt"!

What antibiotic did Vet give? Name, mg & dosage??

 

[creeksidedeb]

Not sure. I used a similar lotion on my Henny Penny to no avail. Only thing that worked was the antibiotics. It has been more than a year, and she has been beautifully feathered "back there" ever since. Good luck!

 

[creeksidedeb]

Antibiotic the vet used was Sulfatrim (another brand name is Bactrim), which is a combo of sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim. Dosage was 2 oz. total which I gave in equal doses for what I believe was 10 days. Sulfatrim is a good first line antibiotic for URI, ear infections, and intestinal distress including shigellosis.

I cheaped out and did not have a culture done so we will never know exactly what Henny Penny had, but the Sulfatrim cleared it right up, even before I finished the course of treatment. YMMV.