Feathered Roo's Red Legs (normal?)

[loofa]

I recently rescued this young little frizzle rooster. He was in bad shape with scabs and wounds all over his comb, super underweight, tail, wing, and leg feathers mostly all broken. I think he'd lived all of his short life in an overcrowded wire cage. Anyhow, I've never had a chicken with feathered legs/feet before. This looks so painful to me! And this part doesn't seem so much like a result of his terrible past, but .... it just looks painful how the feathers grow in? Is the red of his legs normal? Is he in pain? He doesn't like me touching his legs and feet, which makes me think he is. Open to any advice for Mr. Frazzle

 

[Livia Ammon]

My Marans Roos have had this sort of thing too. It doesn’t ever seem to bother them, though. I hope it’s alright.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I think the redness is a sign of active hormones. Let me tag @Eggcessive, she'll know.

 

[Eggcessive]

Does he seem to peck at his legs and break off the feathers? Do they seem painful or cause limping? Most chickens have pinkness in their legs when they are fertile, but some feather legged roosters may have inflamed skin on legs. I have not seen any in mine, but people here post about those quite often. I would soak his legs in a shallow bath of warm Epsom salts water for 15 minutes a day to see if it helps. Leg mites may also cause problems, and you can apply some Castor oil or vaseline to smother them twice a week.

 

[SnackMeat]

I have a Brahma I am caring for that looks like this but not as bad. You can look up "broken blood feather" and see if that helps.

It could also be anxious feather picking, that's then exacerbated by the color red and pink. I've read that they may mature out of it (plus the whole pink from hormones.)

You can soak and pull the feathers out, or wrap with a balm, or leave alone and wait and see.

Additionally, it doesn't hurt to coat in Vaseline daily as a hedge against mites.