Help identifying and treating skin condition

[DeRock89]

Pictures are at the bottom
I’ve had this Black Sumatran hen that was given to me for at least 6 months now(I think it’s been longer) Ever since i got her, she’s been bald on the back of her neck. I assumed this was from a rooster aggressively mating. I waited and waited and there was no signs of healing and I don’t have a rooster. She’s been with all my other chickens the whole time and none of the others have developed any similar signs or symptoms so I didn’t think it was some sort of passable or communicable disease.

I’ve tried tried a few different ointments to see if it would help heal what’s going on and she would sprout feathers. Can’t rmember all of the ones I’ve tried except for Blue-Kote, and peck-no-more. I purchased at least two other sprays/ointments for chickens from Tractor supply, but I can’t remember what they are called. There was no improvement with anything.

She doesn’t seem distressed and she’s still laying fine and is behaving like any other chicken. The condition is only on her head and nowhere else on her body. The place has pretty much consistently remained the same size. There are also no other places like this on the rest of her body, just the back of her head and neck, and a little bit on the face. Today I’ve noticed that it may be spreading to her face... I’ve noticed her using her foot to scratch at her neck, but I don’t know how heavily she’s scratching it.

It’s baffilting because if it was a pathogen, I would think it would have spread. It’s not from pecking or roosters. Anscits consistently stayed the same size without spreading very much at all. For awhile, I just figured it takes a really long time to regrow feathers, but it can’t be this long... I’m pretty certain it’s not pecking because she was segregated for a long time to allow for healing and there was no signs of Healing or improvement.


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[rebrascora]

The damaged feathers are unlikely to regrow until she moults, usually late summer/autumn/early winter. You are right in thinking that it is probably mating damage from a rooster that caused it in the first place or it can be from pecking from other hens. If it looks like it is starting to increase now and there is no obvious pecking from your hens then she may be starting to moult early or her skin may be irritated from exposure to the sun. Applying a sun block or salve may help.

It is of course best to check carefully for lice and mites on a night whilst they are roosting. Warm weather often triggers a surge in populations of these parasites. Lice live and breed on the chicken and you will usually see grey clusters of their eggs stuck like concrete to the base of feather shafts usually around the vent and under the wings. The lice themselves are tan coloured and quite fast moving. You need to part the feathers and look at the skin to see them. May be difficult with a dark skinned bird. Mites live and breed in the cracks and crevices of the coop and crawl onto the chickens at night whilst they are roosting to suck their blood, hence checking the birds at night, but you can also check the ends of the roost bars etc by sweeping debris from such places onto a dustpan with a soft brush and then tipping it onto a piece of white card. Any tiny speck that is red and moves will most likely be a mite but crushing it with the back of your finger nail and seeing a smear of blood will confirm it.

 

[getaclue]

It could be several things, but first I'd suggest checking, not just her, but several others for mites/lice. Are the ends of their feathers looking ratty, especially around the tail feathers? If so, treat for mites/lice.

Next, if lice/mites are not the problem, and you've used a few other things on that area, I'd go get some Monistat 7, and rub the cream on that area, along with the comb, and wattles a couple times a day, for at least a week.

What are you feeding your flock?

Feathering back out, takes a bit of time, so don't expect immediate results.