Bare Back Hen

[BCR 2023]

Ok I can follow later with pictures but I figured I'd ask as I am trying to fix this before the cold weather starts. I had a rooster who is now gone but one chicken is still in terrible shape. Her whole stripe from in-between her shoulder blades is bare and irritated. I have vetericyn wound care and blu kote. I just ordered a saddle for her it will be here on Thursday. I've covered my coop in diatomaceous earth I dont see any mites on her she is the only chicken I had hatched from an egg. She is a cross between an easterr egger rooster and a leghorn hen. She is always the first for digging into food and water which leads me to believe she is more of a dominant bird. Her vent is also bare but Im more concerned about her bare back.
Do I use blu kote and saddle or the vetericyn plus wound care spray. Do I have to clean her first? Lol this is my favorite chicken she is only a year old. It started with just a bare back then when molting began now its up further. Please help

 

[BCR 2023]

This is the best photo I can get

 

[BCR 2023]

This shows her bare butt.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

If you are going to keep an apron/ saddle on her, you don't need the BluKote. The purpose of BK is to disguise redness so other hens don't peck. She's not that red for one thing, and you're going to cover her anyway for another so she's in no danger of being pecked. If she has open sores wash them with saline spray, dry and coat with triple antibiotic ointment, but I don't see any.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Also the DE does nothing, you need Permethrin for lice and mites.

 

[BCR 2023]

Ok which is a better option using this saddle or blukote? Should I use something on her vent? I read somewhere that you shouldn't apply that to the vent area for it could affect her eggs. I've never had a big problem with my chickens but after reading yalls stories I try to address the issue as soon as I notice it. I praise God I dont have any of the serious issues some of these posts indicate. But this website has kind of became my dictionary for my chickens. Thank you for your time and assistance.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

If you got rid of the rooster and the hens are not pecking her, I would leave her alone and not do anything. New feathers will grow in as she molts and a saddle will be very uncomfortable, rubbing on the pinfeathers. I don't believe the BluKote has healing properties but I could be wrong. Let's call in an Educator or two.
@Eggcessive
@coach723
@azygous

 

[Eggcessive]

What is her exact age? Is she really molting now? Feathers will not grow in until she molts. The blue feather shafts that come in then are attractive to the others who may peck them. I have used soft polar fleece hen saddles the first year after several hens were bearnacked. The rooster stayed with them. Once they molted all was well, and it didn’t happen the next year. I would try one or the other. Watch to see if one or more hen is picking feathers. Make sure they are getting out to free range and are nit over crowded. Also make sure to not give a lot of treats to dilute the amount of protein in their feed.

 

[azygous]

Your hen may be getting pecked as new pin feathers come in. Chickens are drawn to large patches of bare skin and then to the emerging pin feathers which are rich in delicious blood. They can become addicted. Disguising the bare skin with Blu-kote can help a lot. Blu-kote does have anti-fungal and antibacterial properties, usually used on animals with small superficial wounds.

Once the chickens get fixated on the chicken with bare skin and pin feathers, they tend to keep at it. This begins to wear the victim down, she gets used to being the victim, and this can cause her to quit standing up for herself. It can spiral down into chronic victim status.

I had such a hen many years ago. She was in a chronic state of baldness and I tried saddles, even having my neighbor make one with a turtle neck to protect her bald neck. Nothing worked to fix the situation until I tried putting her in an isolation pen to protect her. This is what happened. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-bully-chicken-victim-a-two-sided-issue.73923/

 

[Altairsky]

Bare backs bother humans more than chickens. I had a hen that the rooster made bare backed. I thought the rooster was too big and almost culled him.
Saddles bothered her more than the rooster.
Since she wasn't bleeding and had no scratches, I just leave it be.
In the end it wasn't the rooster fault, she just had very weak feathers (she was a runt).
So my opinion is, if there is no blood and she's not bothered, leave her be.