bright red skin

[duckinnut]

Ive got 6 RIRs and 4 Barred Rocks they are missing feathers on their backs due to four roosters that is now down to one. My question is the skin on the girls is bright pink to red and seems to vary.A friend said that means that they are really healthy I'm thinking raging hormones. Any ideas?

 

[azygous]

Chickens with no feathers can get sunburn on the exposed parts. I've run into this problem on occasion since the solar radiation at my elevation (7500') can be intense. I keep a can of spray-on SPF15 sunscreen in the coop to treat any bare skin, my own included.

I've also employed saddle/aprons to cover bare backs to keep them from getting painful sunburns. If sunburn hurts you, you can imagine it's also painful for your girls.

 

[duckinnut]

Thanks for the input,never thought of that. But I dont think its sunburn because its been cloudy and rainy here in Mass for about forever. Im still thinkng hormones because I could see the skin change colors on one of them will in the coop eating,its almost like a chickens version of blushing.They are now over a year old,poultry puberty perhaps?

 

[Judy]

At least for roosters, puberty is more like 4-5 months old. You could be right, though, you could be seeing a hormone flush, but I think it's safe to assume you're also seeing sunburn. You can get sunburned on a cloudy day, too, and they're exposed all the time. I'd really think about some aprons til they feather back in. People sell them on BYC, or you can make them, even without sewing if you wish:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=155123

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=167

On the second link, scroll down about 2/3 of the way to see the saddle. This is the kind I make, out of a piece of polarfleece. An old sweatshirt works well, too.