Chicken with huge skin lesions/scabbing and lice

[tori729]

Noticed my brahma was standing still with one eye open last week so I pulled her out to look over. She had a huge scab on her side so I separated her and started treating the wound with tea tree spray and calendula. After a few days the wound wasn't getting better so I switched to an antibiotic cream, cleaning first with saline. I checked her over again and noticed she looked like she had lice (small yellow bugs crawling on her wing follicles) so I treated her and the whole flock with permethrin powder and put some extra spray treatment on her. I decided to put her back with the flock but after a few days of watching her noticed no improvement. She also pants some which I think means she's in pain so I gave her some baby aspirin yesterday and today. Today I noticed more redness and scabs below her vent and now on her foot. I gave her a salt bath with some soap and put more cream on her wounds. The wounds are raised off the body with redness and scabbing.

She's eating and drinking ok, probably not as much as normal though. She preens herself and scratches but won't dust bathe and mostly just stands around. Her poop is runny dark green and white and has been for awhile.

I'm watching the other chickens. One seems to have some redness as well around her vent. I let them all out daily for dust bathing. They are all laying fine.

She hasn't laid since she's been looking ill.
Are these lesions just a result of the lice? Do I need to give her some ivermectin or something stronger? Are the lesions a sign of something else and that's why she got lice?

 

[tori729]

Unfortunately, I can't attach anymore pictures at this time. The one above is the scab on her side which is the first one I found. It's bleeding right now but this is the first time I've seen blood. I can try and post more pictures later but the tool doesn't seem to be working. :/

Other info: She is just under two years old and her comb is still bright red. She really doesn't look sick other than her dirty butt from the runny poo.

 

[coach723]

If you can get more pictures it would be very helpful, closeups of the wounds and of the whole bird as well. Is that on her side under or behind the wing? Do you have a rooster? Wounds in that area are often from the roo when he mounts. Sharp spurs and claws will do it. That looks more like a wound/injury to me, and may be infected. Is there any bad smell from the wound? It also kind of looks like what happens with fly strike, that is when flies lay eggs in the wound. Make sure there are no maggots in any wounds anywhere.
When treating mites, you have to treat the birds and the coop as well. They live and hide in the coop. The coop will need to be cleaned out, and also treated probably at least 3 times at weekly intervals, to get them all.
https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/
Without seeing more, I would flush the wounds well with chlorhexidine (hibiclens), diluted betadine, or mild soapy water, apply a plain (no pain meds) triple antibiotic ointment(human stuff from any pharmacy) to cover them and keep them moist, reapply as needed to keep them covered in ointment. If there is any bad smell from wounds then you may need an oral antibiotic. You can get amoxicillin as fishmox online. https://fishvetsupply.com/products/...eLI1-nOPKmku2Se2oUCpRilKttmkTyGhoCqlYQAvD_BwE
Amoxicillin dose is 57 mg per pound of body weight, twice a day. I would do 5 - 7 days of it if needed.

 

[tori729]

If you can get more pictures it would be very helpful, closeups of the wounds and of the whole bird as well. Is that on her side under or behind the wing? Do you have a rooster? Wounds in that area are often from the roo when he mounts. Sharp spurs and claws will do it. That looks more like a wound/injury to me, and may be infected. Is there any bad smell from the wound? It also kind of looks like what happens with fly strike, that is when flies lay eggs in the wound. Make sure there are no maggots in any wounds anywhere.
When treating mites, you have to treat the birds and the coop as well. They live and hide in the coop. The coop will need to be cleaned out, and also treated probably at least 3 times at weekly intervals, to get them all.
https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/
Without seeing more, I would flush the wounds well with chlorhexidine (hibiclens), diluted betadine, or mild soapy water, apply a plain (no pain meds) triple antibiotic ointment(human stuff from any pharmacy) to cover them and keep them moist, reapply as needed to keep them covered in ointment.

Picture is from under the wing.
No roosters. No bad smell or maggots.

We did clean out the coop when we found lice on her and we sprinkled permethrin inside under the bedding.
I will try and get some hibiclens. I've been putting on a medicated antibiotic ointment but should I use a regular one instead? I've only been applying 1-2 times a day but I can do it more. She usually ends up preening the area right after I put stuff on it though.

I've created an album so hopefully you can view the pictures via the link.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/gdwj6kyNLEUUJwCW7

 

[coach723]

If by medicated you mean it has pain killer in it (-caine), then yes, you should use one that doesn't contain that. Those medications can have toxicity for chickens, so are usually avoided unless under the care of a veterinarian who has prescribed something. I would apply it as often as needed to keep it covered and moist. Her preening isn't going to hurt anything. I did look at the pictures, but they aren't really clear enough to see detail. They still look like some kind of wounds to me, not sure what the cause might be.

 

[tori729]

If by medicated you mean it has pain killer in it (-caine), then yes, you should use one that doesn't contain that. Those medications can have toxicity for chickens, so are usually avoided unless under the care of a veterinarian who has prescribed something. I would apply it as often as needed to keep it covered and moist. Her preening isn't going to hurt anything. I did look at the pictures, but they aren't really clear enough to see detail. They still look like some kind of wounds to me, not sure what the cause might be.

Ok thanks. No it's just an antibiotic ointment which I somehow misplaced last night so I just bought some triple antibiotic ointment today.

The bath seemed to really help; she seems better, not panting as much. Is there any way for me to take more helpful pictures? Also, are my next steps abx if it doesn't get better and how long should I wait?