About a month ago, we inherited a large-ish flock of about 20 hens. So far so good in terms of taking care of them. They have a fully covered/contained coop and plenty of outdoors space to run around in.
Recently we noticed one of the hens has a bare bottom. From what we've read online it sounds like this could be a variety of things ranging from parasites to bullying to possible disease. Would love to get some feedback as to whether we should be worried and/or what pro-active treatment steps we might take. Behaviorally, we don't see any issues in the flock. We inspected her at night and don't see any blood or scurrying mites (but I assume they're hard to detect). We don't see any symptoms or anything unusual in other members of the flock.
I've attached two photos. I can't tell if her butt is swollen or not as I don't know what a chicken butt looks like bare! Would love any feedback or thoughts. Thanks in advance!
Recently we noticed one of the hens has a bare bottom. From what we've read online it sounds like this could be a variety of things ranging from parasites to bullying to possible disease. Would love to get some feedback as to whether we should be worried and/or what pro-active treatment steps we might take. Behaviorally, we don't see any issues in the flock. We inspected her at night and don't see any blood or scurrying mites (but I assume they're hard to detect). We don't see any symptoms or anything unusual in other members of the flock.
I've attached two photos. I can't tell if her butt is swollen or not as I don't know what a chicken butt looks like bare! Would love any feedback or thoughts. Thanks in advance!