Dry, flaky, irritated looking skin around eyes

[GraceLives]

Hello! I’m visiting my mom and examining her flock and my favorite chicken, Phoenix, seems to have really dry, irritated, flaky skin on both sides around her eyes and some feather loss.

I’m not a chicken guru and I’m hoping you guys can help. My instinct is to put some coconut oil on her but I literally know nothing about chickens and my mom is recovering from surgery. The first two pictures are of Phoenix, the third is Pepper, and the fourth is Copper, for comparison.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Check her for lice and mites while your at it.
I prefer to use Vaseline on faces/wattles/combs instead of coconut oil, but if that's your oil of choice, then go for it.

 

[WonkierZulu]

Might be sunburn also

 

[Myrshine]

Have you checked her over for lice or mites? If there isn't any, it could be from a skin fugal infection. Sunburn could be a possibility, but I doubt it as her skin is red already.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Dry skin. It happens.

 

[GraceLives]

I haven’t checked her for mites as I wasn’t sure where to start - I’ll do a little research to find out what to look for and examine her in the morning. If I find them, what do I do???

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I haven’t checked her for mites as I wasn’t sure where to start - I’ll do a little research to find out what to look for and examine her in the morning. If I find them, what do I do???

Look through her feathers, especially around the vent, at the oil gland, neck/head, under wings (whole body really).
Pretty good photos in this article will help you with what you're looking for. https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/

IF you find bugs, then use a Permethrin based poultry spray or dust to treat her and the flock. Don't forget to treat housing as well.

 

[GraceLives]

So after thoroughly examining Phoenix, I’m not seeing any signs of lice or mites. Her entire body has a dry, flakey skin that looks like dandruff which I would assume would be more or less normal considering she bathed in dirt.

The feathers under her beak were seriously matted together with dirt so I just gave her a spray bottle bath to clean her up and got a better look at her skin. It appears very red and splotchy, almost raw looking (see pics). The only place she is red is around her head and it is inconsistent in color with the rest of her.

Do you think this is an irritation? Sunburn? It was very very hot here last week (they do have shade but she is a “special” chicken that sometimes doesn’t do what you think a chicken would do).

Is there an ointment I could put on her? What do you guys think?

 

[GraceLives]

Look through her feathers, especially around the vent, at the oil gland, neck/head, under wings (whole body really).
Pretty good photos in this article will help you with what you're looking for. https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/

IF you find bugs, then use a Permethrin based poultry spray or dust to treat her and the flock. Don't forget to treat housing as well.

No mites that i could see/find, although I read sometimes you have to look at night? I just added some new photos.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

No mites that i could see/find, although I read sometimes you have to look at night? I just added some new photos.

So after thoroughly examining Phoenix, I’m not seeing any signs of lice or mites. Her entire body has a dry, flakey skin that looks like dandruff which I would assume would be more or less normal considering she bathed in dirt.

The feathers under her beak were seriously matted together with dirt so I just gave her a spray bottle bath to clean her up and got a better look at her skin. It appears very red and splotchy, almost raw looking (see pics). The only place she is red is around her head and it is inconsistent in color with the rest of her.

Do you think this is an irritation? Sunburn? It was very very hot here last week (they do have shade but she is a “special” chicken that sometimes doesn’t do what you think a chicken would do).

Is there an ointment I could put on her? What do you guys think?

You can check for mites at night, certain ones live off the bird and come out to feed at night.

Light areas of skin is where she's lost some feathers, she's been plucked. Her face looks fine to me. If you wish, you can put some vaseline on her comb, wattles and face to help with dryness.

As for the picking, you will have to observe and see when it's happening. A lot of times that's during roosting. Watch to see if whoever is plucking her is also eating feathers. Sometimes plucking is just dominance (Likely your case) or on occasion, nutritional deficiency.