Feather loss, warm reddening skin, the area is getting larger. Please help.

[chickenmama1234]

I have a 16 month old Barred Plymouth Rock that has been losing feathers over the course of the past two months. I have tried treating the area with Vetericin Antimicrobial Poultry Care. I wondered about Ringworm and tried treating her for that with an anti fungal cream over the course of about 10 days, but did not notice a difference. Her behavior is normal and she is continuing to lay eggs daily and pecking from other hens is not an issue. She is the hen at the top of the pecking order and we have looked for signs of bullying on our camera and have never seen any aggressive behavior from the other hens.
A few other hens in the flock have started losing feathers, but their skin is not red.
There are no signs of trauma currently, but she did have what appeared to be an injury that was small and healing (had a crusty scab) on her abdomen two months ago when we started treating her with vetericin.
I have no idea what could have caused this to start and there are no signs of mites or lice in the coop or on the hens. The redness and warm to the touch area is spreading.

She continues to eat and drink normally. Her poop is mostly normal, but sometimes looks slightly runny. No signs of blood in her poop. The bedding in the coop is sand that is cleaned daily. I am hoping to treat her and the flock myself. I am not aware of any poultry vets in my area and don't know if the online options will be helpful.
Please help! (Edited to add an additional photo.)

 

[Jener8or]

I'm sorry to hear about your chicken! This is just a guess, but it looks like this might be Ascites (also called water belly). (She is young to have it, so I hope not.) Maybe read through this article and see what you think and hopefully our awesome BYC educators can give you the best advice and possible diagnosis if this is not it.

I hope she gets better!
https://thecapecoop.com/water-belly-ascetis-in-chickens/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/possible-help-for-waterbelly-ascites.78163/reviews

 

[chickenmama1234]

I'm sorry to hear about your chicken! This is just a guess, but it looks like this might be Ascites (also called water belly). (She is young to have it, so I hope not.) Maybe read through this article and see what you think and hopefully our awesome BYC educators can give you the best advice and possible diagnosis if this is not it.

I hope she gets better!
https://thecapecoop.com/water-belly-ascetis-in-chickens/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/possible-help-for-waterbelly-ascites.78163/reviews

Thank you so much. I appreciate you taking the time to share this article and your thoughts. I am not convinced that this is the cause, but will continue to watch for signs of it. Hopefully if others have additional ideas they are willing to share them.

 

[Jener8or]

@Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive (Thank you!)
I tagged some help. These two are very knowledgeable. Hopefully others can give their thoughts as well. I hope you find a solution for your girl!

 

[Eggcessive]

When you look at her lower belly under her vent from behind, does it seem enlarged? Do you ever see her pecking at her own feathers when you are hanging out with the chickens? They might do that if something is hurting or irritating them. Does she seem to be active and out free ranging most of the day, or sitting around a lot? Her skin does look a bit inflamed and bare, and it could be that her skin is irritated from lying around more than normal, she could have some fever, or fluid in her belly. Her feathers appear to be picked out either by her or others. If her lower belly is not enlarged then the water belly is probably not an issue.