flaming red rooster back side.

[jmoeller]

this is my roosters back side. the skin is flaming red from under the tail feathers down over abdomen creeping up onto the breast bone. I see no signs of mites of fleas on him. I have checked several of the hens and they all have nice healthy white skin with no signs of insects.
I covered the area with Nu-stock yesterday.
has anybody seen something like this before? Initially I was thinking it is skin issue but Im wondering if it is actually an internal problem.

 

[andreanar]

Could the girls have been pecking him? Maybe it started as a small wound and then they picked at it? Any maggots in there? I would flush it out real good in case maggots are down in there, then use blue Kote or keep him separate so no one else pecks at it.

 

[Goodneatstuff]

I have a few hens with flaming red skin on their backsides and around their tails with just a few tail feathers sticking straight up. I'm wondering if it's mites or feather picking..???
Can someone please help us with our 'flaming chickens'?

 

[Goodneatstuff]

There's no open wound, just bright red skin.

 

[andreanar]

There's no open wound, just bright red skin.

Create a thread and people will come with suggestions.

 

[coach723]

Often times roosters will have very red behinds, and/or legs, and it's hormonal. And it will come and go. Just means they are mature, breeding, roo's. But red behinds can attract pecking. If there are no mites/lice then that would be my suspicion. If there are tight quarters when they roost he may be getting picked then. You can try blu-kote, but unless he's getting wounds I'd probably just watch to see whom is instigating any pecking and deal with that.
You may need to provide more space in the coop. The most common causes of feather picking are overcrowding, boredom, and not enough protein in the feed (feathers are protein, so they eat them). You can also try a higher protein feed, make sure you have oyster shell available at all times free choice for your laying hens as they will not get enough calcium from non-layer feeds.

 

[jmoeller]

they are free ranging over many acres for 14 hours a day. So I don't think it is a space issue. He is the only roo for 15 other hens/pullets. of the 16 chickens he is the only one with any skin issues. I put Nu-stock on him yesterday and when I check him this weekend I may use try some blue kote.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

View attachment 1107750

this is my roosters back side. the skin is flaming red from under the tail feathers down over abdomen creeping up onto the breast bone. I see no signs of mites of fleas on him. I have checked several of the hens and they all have nice healthy white skin with no signs of insects.
I covered the area with Nu-stock yesterday.
has anybody seen something like this before? Initially I was thinking it is skin issue but Im wondering if it is actually an internal problem.

Hi, welcome to BYC!

How old is your "rooster"?

Looks like parasite to me. Thing is there are a few types of mites. Some of them don't live on the host, but in cracks of wood and only come out to feed on chickens at night. Others are invisible, so try hard though you MIGHT (pun intended) it may be impossible to see them. The ones you can see, are best seen after dark with a flashlight and spread the feathers on the vent/abdomen and look for things running away.

For some reason... my boys show more signs more easily than my hens.

So, nu stock has only 3 ingredients. Sulfur, mineral oil, and pine oil...
http://www.nustock.com/msds.pdf

That being said sulfur has been used in the past to treat or repel mites. So it MIGHT solve your issue in a round about way. I suspect the mineral oil is just a carrier and the pine oil is probably to combat the nasty sulfur smell.

I would suspect over mating more than feather pulling, because of the location. People always talk about the hens, but what about the boys doing all the rubbing spreading their love? More than that though, I do suspect parasites. (not fleas)

I would do an epsom salt bath for 15 minutes, and reapply your nu stock. Noting that one of my hens has red below the vent and on her abdomen, which I have recently concluded is vent gleet, also known as a yeast infection.

Hope he feels better soon!

 

[jmoeller]

the rooster is a year old. Thanks for the advice I will follow be giving him a bath today I guess