Change in abdomen

[minaayindra]

I have 2 barred rocks, who were always downy underneath on their stomachs. When I went out with them today, I noticed one had no down or feathers in a large area, it is also red. She seems to feel perfectly fine otherwise. When I finally caught her, I rubbed the area and it doesn’t feel hot, just leathery. Again, she didn’t seem to be bothered. Does anyone know what this is? I hate to cart her a huge distance to the vet if this is something simple that will resolve on its own.

 

[Bantambird]

She may have lice. Poultry lice eat feathers and lay eggs on the feather shafts around the vent. Infestation can denude around the vent. It might be feather picking, but I would lean towards lice. Be sure there are areas for the girls to dust bathe, to help knock off the lice. I use permethren based spray or dust to kill lice when merited. Look for tiny, red, rice shaped critters scurrying on the skin when exposed. They congregate around the vent, under wings, and sometimes under the chin

 

[minaayindra]

Oh my gosh! I thought having her on sand would eliminate insect issues- she does live with a feather picker, Wanda (on other birds, not her own) but how my little maniac Wanda would denude Ruthie's under-abdominal area, I have no idea. When Wanda has attacked repetitively, it is always around the other bird's preening gland. They live in sand and they dust bath in it copiously. I didn't notice any tiny critters when I picked Ruthie up but she wasn't being real cooperative so I'll have to recheck. If it is lice, how would you treat her, alone or do I have to spray the other 2 girls? Fortunately she lives in a nice coop with only those 2 other hens (because of the feather maniac- the 2 barred rocks were the only ones who could stand up to her) so treating birds wouldn't be as difficult but the space involved in the coop would. Who knows? I handled her so much that I probably brought my own little lice colony home- geesh.

 

[Bantambird]

If it is lice, you don't have to worry about yourself... Feather lice are bird only pests so they won't infest you. Wild birds are the carriers so if there are sparrows or starlings or any such, they WILL eventually share their lice. I use a permethren based spray like pen and poultry, or poultry dust, which you can add a little to their dust bath, either one works and can be applied around the vent and under the wings. The lice live on the skin so make sure the spray or dust touches the skin where the pests crawl so they will die. Preventing infestation means using hardware cloth to keep out those little birds and fencing them out from your feeders.some people swear by diatomaceous earth or wood Ash in the dust bath.

 

[aart]

If it is lice, how would you treat her, alone or do I have to spray the other 2 girls?

Dust would be better this time of year in your climate.
First, figure out if it is bugs, there are many reason for that kind of feather loss.
Lice don't actually eat the feathers.


My Bug Check notes:
Have you checked them over real well for mites and/or lice?

Google images of lice/mites and their eggs before the inspection so you'll know what you're looking for.

Part the feathers right down to the skin around vent, head/neck and under wings.

Best done well after dark with a strong flashlight/headlight, easier to 'catch' bird and also to check for the mites that live in structure and only come out at night to feed off roosting birds.

Wipe a white paper towel along the underside of roost to look for red smears(smashed well fed mites).

Good post about mite ID by Lady McCamley:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-chicken-has-mites-now-what.1273674/page-2#post-20483008

 

[minaayindra]

I do have a lot of chickadees, junkos, titmouse, etc. and my hens get to go out every day with supervision; their actual coop and run are sealed tight as a bank. I guess there's no way to keep them away from any area the wild birds go if I let them outside. I think I would be more successful using a spray on all three birds as opposed to hoping to get every inch when they are dust bathing- I'm assuming I now need to spray all of them, if only Ruthie is symptomatic? Would I be doing any harm if they don't have lice? The coop is too large to spread anything over all of the sand space so it would be a waste of time.

 

[minaayindra]

Dust would be better this time of year in your climate.
First, figure out if it is bugs, there are many reason for that kind of feather loss.
Lice don't actually eat the feathers.


My Bug Check notes:
Have you checked them over real well for mites and/or lice?

Google images of lice/mites and their eggs before the inspection so you'll know what you're looking for.

Part the feathers right down to the skin around vent, head/neck and under wings.

Best done well after dark with a strong flashlight/headlight, easier to 'catch' bird and also to check for the mites that live in structure and only come out at night to feed off roosting birds.

Wipe a white paper towel along the underside of roost to look for red smears(smashed well fed mites).

Good post about mite ID by Lady McCamley:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-chicken-has-mites-now-what.1273674/page-2#post-20483008

Thanks (as always) aart!

 

[Bantambird]

Check first before spraying anything. Make sure you look for the lice or mites first, like aart says. But for me, that's happened when I had lice.

 

[Bantambird]

Plus, the permethren based insecticide will remain active on the bird for several days.

TBH I've not faced mites due to geography so I'm very lucky there.

 

[minaayindra]

Well, I wrote a reply and it seems to have disappeared!