Dry spongy skin on hen's neck. Any ideas?

[jmcjmc]

We've got 4 hens, they're almost a year old. About a month ago 2 of them stopped laying abruptly. Eventually I found lice on one of them (an EE). We treated all 4 birds and their living space. With the other non-layer, a Black Star, I never saw any bugs on her, but she had a lot of father loss around her vent and on her neck. And all the skin around her butt was bright red.

I've been spraying her butt with a healing poultry wound spray. And it looks like new feathers are growing on her neck. But the skin on her neck doesn't look like any chicken skin I've ever seen. The woman at our local feed store said it looks fine, but couldn't tell me why it didn't look like normal skin. I've never had major feather loss before, is this just what skin looks like as feathers grow?

I took this pic a few days ago. The skin looks even drier and flaky-er now. Sorry, I know it might be hard to see in a picture. I can try to get a better picture tomorrow.

 

[azygous]

The photo is great! Much better than most we see. The skin appears normal for feathers regrowing. If the poultry healing spray is Vetericyn, that's the best thing you can use on any red or questionable skin.

If the skin continues to appear dry and flaky, after applying the Vetericyn, let it dry, then smooth on some coconut oil. That will help even more and should make the hen more comfortable. You, too!

 

[jmcjmc]

Thanks for the fast reply. Good to hear! She wouldn't stay still for a picture today (and I had to hold her and take the picture myself), but here's what the skin looks like now. But based on your response I assume this is all normal too. Phew!!

As for her butt, the spray is just Rooster Booster wound spray. It seems natural, mostly healing oils. But her butt is still really red a week later so maybe it's time to step up to the Vetericyn.

 

[rebrascora]

It would appear that she is moulting which is why they have stopped laying. Moulting happens annually, usually in the autumn time but some moult late summer and others wait until the depths of winter. The first photo doesn't look unduly concerning but the second photo does. It looks like the skin has been stretched beyond it's elastic limit and then gone loose when weight has been lost. Her pin feathers don't look overly healthy on that photo either and very sparse... I'm wondering if there is some feather pecking going on and she has what appears to be a dark patch under the skin in her lower abdomen at the bottom of the picture.... a clearer photo might be better when you have someone to help you, so that we can see in more detail.
It is very uncomfortable for them to be handled when they are growing in their new feathers. Sometimes wrapping them in a towel is easier to hold them secure without risking damaging their pin feathers with them struggling.
How big is your coop and run. Sometimes lack of space can lead to feather picking and if they are moulting then a higher protein feed can be beneficial or extra protein treats like a bit of meat/offal/fish/cat food/meal worms etc every other day can help them through it.

 

[jmcjmc]

Well it's been a couple months and I've even more stumped than I was last time. There are lots of posts on here about how to deal with certain kinds of feather loss, but I can't even figure out what problem I'm trying to cure...

On the question of run size, we have 4 hens in a run that's about 12'x12'. It's all outdoor and they're pretty much just there all the time. They have the option of going in a hutch/coop, but I've never seen any of them do it. And if I put them in there they get out as fast as they can. They sleep outside on an old metal roost the previous homeowners put up. It's the only place they'll sleep. By my math that's 36 sqft per bird, so I'd think they'd be happy with that.

I'm just hoping someone can tell me where to start - I'm happy to read all the posts and articles if I know what I'm looking for. I guess I'll just give you the facts since I don't know what's important.

1. After we treated the birds for lice/mites (treated all 4) in Feb, egg production went back to normal and all the birds seemed fine, except the black star's neck feather loss and red butt, which started this topic. Those two things NEVER improved, but also never got worse. Over the past couple months we gave them a lot of meal worm treats, and did an electrolyte supplement in their water as recommended by the local store. Last week I noticed bugs on the EE and black star again, so this time I stepped up to poultry dust. I dusted them last Friday and then we went out of town for a week (neighbor kept collecting eggs).

2. I checked in on the birds this morning to do a 1-week re-dust, and the black star seems to be losing more feathers on her neck. I don't see any pin feathers, just bare, dry skin. Her vent area is now soft and pink, but below that is still bright red. I did not ever try Vetericyn, but I suppose it's time to give that a shot now.

3. Our Australorp has a big bald spot above her tail. I wanted to get a close-up picture, but (no kidding) I cannot catch her. I'll have to try at night.

4. On all of the birds, a lot of what used to be normal, long, shiny feathers, seem to have been replaced by a more down-like fluffy feather. Especially on the chest and above the tail.

5. Aside from the feathers, all 4 birds seem happy and healthy. All behavior seems normal. All combs are bright red. If I let them out of the run, they're giddy and race to forage for bugs and eat our arugula, just like always.

6. I saw the black star eat a couple of her feathers off the floor of the run. I saw the RIR peck one feather off the back star's back.

7. We don't have a rooster. Hens are fed a layer pellet. It says 16% min. protein.

I'm sorry for the ridiculously long post. I wrote down a list and tried to give all the facts I thought might be relevant. Just worried about these birds and want to make sure I'm not doing anything to make the problem worse. I'd love to finally get a handle on whatever's going on because I'm sure this isn't pleasant for them either.

 

[azygous]

Was it an approved for poultry dusting powder you used? Permethrin and Sevin shouldn't do anything to irritate skin.

What can irritate skin are feather mites. You need to examine the feathers from around the butt area with a good magnifying lens. In addition to mites, feather picking, as you've just observed, can also cause feather loss and damage skin. Removing the back feathers exposes those small downy feathers in front of the tail. They aren't replacing the larger feathers. If feather picking keeps up, even those will disappear, leaving a large bald
spot.

One of the causes of feather picking is not enough protein. You might set aside the layer feed for now and start feeding a 20% protein all flock feed or, if your budget will permit, feed Feather Fixer. Provide oyster shell free choice and calcium needs should be met.

If this doesn't improve the condition of the birds, you may need to try to identify the feather pickers and install pinless peepers. When all else fails, these devices often stop the feather picking. You can get them over the internet.

 

[rebrascora]

I saw the black star eat a couple of her feathers off the floor of the run. I saw the RIR peck one feather off the back star's back.

If you have seen this happen, then there will be many times that it is happening when you don't see it. I would up their protein intake. Give them a little meat or fish a couple of times a week..... raw liver is cheap and very nutritious. Cut it into bite sized slivers or hang a slice up for them to peck at. You don't mention if you give them any other treats?.... scratch, corn, bread, food scraps, veggies, flock block etc?
Many of these treats will be lower in protein than 16% and therefore dilute their daily protein intake. 16% is pretty much the basic level for egg production. Some people feed a grower or flock raiser because those are usually available as 18-20% protein and make sure they have access to oyster shell as and when they need to supplement their calcium intake.

 

[jmcjmc]

Thank you both. I'll try a higher protein feed. I went to a couple feed stores today and couldn't find one over 16% that wasn't a mash. And I don't think they'll eat that. As for other "treats," I'll let my 2-year-old throw maybe two handfuls of scratch out (his hand size) every few days. But that's about all the scratch they get. They do get some veggie scraps but I always try to be aware and not overdo it.

The dust I used was the ProZap Permethrin - seems to be all anyone sells around here.