Chicken skin problem

[Korte38]

Hello,

I have a 6 month old bantam pullet with yellow crusty, scabby stuff on her skin. A lot around her eyes and wattles, but also some on the top of her head, her neck, and really everywhere. Sometimes it peels off and will bleed. A lot of her feathers are falling out around her head and eyes. I don't see any signs of mites or lice on her, and none of the other chickens (I have 17 spread amongst 3 coops) have this problem. I noticed it several days ago. I gave her a bath, and have been spraying her with athlete foot spray thinking it was a fungus. I'm an ribbon about jyst soaking her skin in Tylan in case it's a bacteria. She is inside at the moment.

I haven't been able to find any similar cases online. I feel the pictures don't clearly show what is going on. Any thoughts?

 

[azygous]

That yellow crusty stuff reminds me of cradle cap in infants. When my daughter was a few weeks old she had it, and it looked just like your hen.

I ran across an old 2011 BYC thread talking about yellow crusty stuff on the chicken's skin following treatment for scaly leg mites using cooking oil. It seems their chicken had an allergic reaction to the cooking oil, resulting in the same sort of yellow crusts.

What both cradle cap and the old thread have in common are fatty secretions on the skin. I'm wondering if your bantam is having such a reaction. It sounds nutty, but I would be tempted to try a nice long soak in warm water heavily infused with Head and Shoulders shampoo. That formula counters fatty secretions on the scalp that cause dandruff, so it may help counter the fatty secretions on your bantam.

Can't hurt.

 

[Korte38]

I totally thought it looked like cradle cap too!!!! That is a great suggestion, thanks so much!

That yellow crusty stuff reminds me of cradle cap in infants. When my daughter was a few weeks old she had it, and it looked just like your hen.

I ran across an old 2011 BYC thread talking about yellow crusty stuff on the chicken's skin following treatment for scaly leg mites using cooking oil. It seems their chicken had an allergic reaction to the cooking oil, resulting in the same sort of yellow crusts.

What both cradle cap and the old thread have in common are fatty secretions on the skin. I'm wondering if your bantam is having such a reaction. It sounds nutty, but I would be tempted to try a nice long soak in warm water heavily infused with Head and Shoulders shampoo. That formula counters fatty secretions on the scalp that cause dandruff, so it may help counter the fatty secretions on your bantam.

Can't hurt.

 

[micstrachan]

OMG! Cradle cap is the first thing that came to my mind, too! Maybe dose in some sort of oil and gently scrub with a toothbrush?

 

[Korte38]

Oil is a good idea. It really never softened up enough in water, so some skin came off if I tried removing the crusties. Thanks!

 

[azygous]

Let us know what works, if anything.

 

[Korte38]

For sure! If nothing else it may help another chicken owner.

 

[azygous]

I've been doing more reading about what causes "cradle cap", and it seems very likely that's what you're hen has. It's caused by a mild fungus that triggers the secretion of this yellow stuff. I wasn't as far out in the weeds as I thought to suggest an anti-dandruff shampoo (2 percent antifungal ketoconazole medication.) It's what they recommend for stubborn cases of cradle cap.

If you use oil to loosen and clean out the scales, I recommend coconut oil. It also is an anti-fungal so it would help further to combat the fungus causing this.

 

[chickens really]

That looks like a yeast infection...A Vet will need to be seen..

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Can you give us a clearer photo of her face?
Also, what are you feeding her?

I don't see any harm in giving her a bath to see if that helps. Of course having a vet sample some scrapings is always a good idea as well.

Some skin conditions, I would agree are reactions to something - but who knows what. Some are disease related too.

If you haven't done so, adding a good poultry vitamin for a couple of days a week to her water won't hurt. I would look for one that has B vitamins. If not, add 1/4 crushed tablet of human B-Complex vitamins (no iron) to her food.