It's our first year as chicken owners, so realize that I'm learning some nasty lessons.
Lesson 1: even though they're in the coop over winter and I can't see them too much, I need to INSPECT my ladies regularly. The "passed reproductive tract" thread made that clear to me.
So I inspect my ladies this morning and one of my black Australorps is balding behind the eyes. It looks like the red part around her eyes (same kind of skin as the comb and waddles) extends back a little onto her head, but beyond that--she's lost her feathers!!! Like a reverse monk haircut, but not all the way around, either.
No bleeding (thank God!) so I don't think I have to worry about the other hens pecking on her. She has a few tiny black spots on her comb and waddles that may have been tiny spots of blood, but they could also be dirt. I had all 8 of them together and hand-fed them for a bit and nobody shooed her away or treated her nasty.
Otherwise, everyone seems healthy. They get DE in their water to help with parasites if that helps.
What is this? I wanted to get a picture but camera battery is charging!
I will definitely get one later.
Lesson 1: even though they're in the coop over winter and I can't see them too much, I need to INSPECT my ladies regularly. The "passed reproductive tract" thread made that clear to me.
So I inspect my ladies this morning and one of my black Australorps is balding behind the eyes. It looks like the red part around her eyes (same kind of skin as the comb and waddles) extends back a little onto her head, but beyond that--she's lost her feathers!!! Like a reverse monk haircut, but not all the way around, either.
No bleeding (thank God!) so I don't think I have to worry about the other hens pecking on her. She has a few tiny black spots on her comb and waddles that may have been tiny spots of blood, but they could also be dirt. I had all 8 of them together and hand-fed them for a bit and nobody shooed her away or treated her nasty.
Otherwise, everyone seems healthy. They get DE in their water to help with parasites if that helps.
What is this? I wanted to get a picture but camera battery is charging!
