BR Rooster with red scabbed legs and frayed feathers (picture inc. ) LICE? MITES? help!!

[janelle18]

Here are some pictures of my roo he is about 7 mo. old. I have noticed recently that his feathers are having a frayed appearance and the hens have been pulling at them. I wasn't too concerned but today notice that his legs almost looked plucked and that he had green tinged area's, looked like bruising but was pretty green in colour. He is the only roo in a pen of 7 girls and has been breeding them regularly, and isn't acting sick. Is this a sign of a disease, mites, or lice? I have no experience with this, so I am not sure what these symptoms may mean.



Here you can see his legs


You can sort of see here how his feathers don't have a smooth appearance.

 

[aoxa]

That rooster looks like a black sex link roo (only 1 copy of the barring gene). I don't see any green legs though?

He looks to be molting a bit.

 

[aoxa]

I would check him for mites and lice. Check him at night, when he has gone to roost. This is the time mites would be obvious. Check around the vent.

 

[janelle18]

what do I look for for mites? You can't see the green in the pictures it is only small patches on the upper legs, i can try and get more pictures. What is the difference with black sex link and plymouth barred rock? We got these from a hatchery. I thought that chickens don't usually mouth in their first year?

 

[aoxa]

what do I look for for mites? You can't see the green in the pictures it is only small patches on the upper legs, i can try and get more pictures. What is the difference with black sex link and plymouth barred rock? We got these from a hatchery. I thought that chickens don't usually mouth in their first year?

Some do. I have a bunch of them the same age molting. The difference between them is that they are mixed, and the barring is darker in black sex linked boys.

My Barred Plymouth Rock rooster

Black sex link barring. This guy is not sex linked, but it is the same look pretty much.

 

[aoxa]

You'll notice dirt around the vent. Almost looks like scabs. The mites are the size of the tip of a pencil, and are burgundy almost... They are fast and very easy to spot.

 

[janelle18]

Here are some new pictures, I feel like he isnt getting better and some of the hens in that pen have fluffy looking feathers too. do they need to be de loused, or what can we use to fix this. I don't want it to spread to my other birds and i want him to look like our other rooster again!!!

 

[Smoochie]

My first thought was scaly leg mites and grooming hens. I'd be watching the girls to see if this is happening to him. For myself it is a pre cannabalistic behaviour warning sign. Looks like he has some crusting on the legs.. I would soak them and lather them with polysporin. Next I would give him a lice/mite bath and keep him inside until he is completely dry. Next I would spray all the birds in the coop with no pick solution and sprinkle high quality cat food on the ground for extra protein. Do you free range?

 

[janelle18]

No these don't free range they are in a breeding hen, one roo with 7 hens 49 square feet. The hen have been picking ALOT , today he started bleeding and he had to remove him, some of the hen looks like they are being picked by each other as well. We have some 'dri-kill' it is for lice and mites i believe a general live stock dust, it is from a long time ago, can we use this. I dont want this to spread to the other hens. They are on shaving litter.

ETA: also where can i find this no pick solution :S

Gah. Chickens stress me out..

 

[Smoochie]

You're local feed store probably sells a few livestock products such as No Pick.. Feather picking is a pre cannabalistic behaviour so you probably want to get it under wraps ASAP. Cat food on the ground also will help feather picking.