HELP! Red, hot inflamed breast and vent area on 1.5 yr old Australorp.

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you Wyorp Rock and Eggcessive! I've been watching and I've never seen the others go after her. She's one of the bosses in the flock. But, just now I examined her again and I am starting to see whitish clumps in crevices of skin below the vent. I consulted TeleVet and she suspects poultry lice. Some of the other hens have been pecking at their feathers lately and so I'll treat the whole flock. I hope this is going to solve the problem, I'll post an update.

How old are the ladies?
They may be molting, but it would be good to look for lice and mites.

You have a black hen - can't tell if she's an Australorp, Jersey Giant or possible production bird. Skin color is dictated by breed. Australorp will have white skin, Jersey Giant will have yellow skin. A production breed (hybrid) could have white or yellow skin.
Naked Neck birds, while the featherless portions of their body does turn red due to exposure and sun, the rest of the skin underneath their feathers should be yellow.

Reddening of the skin can be from exposure, picking, etc. in laying hens so just keep watch on the area. NuStock, Hen Healer or similar type products can be applied to the skin if it looks like it's breaking down. Pine Tar can be used to help deter picking.

 

[tari]

Feather plucking is normal, but it is can also getting out of hand sometimes, you could lost most of the neck feather. small coop, stressful environment, or lack of nutrition can cause it sometimes they just do it out of nowhere, you can never figuring out the cause, thats why commercial chicken use a process called debeaking.
Just give them more food and space or separate them for now till you figuring out some solution.

Thanks. I believe the cause is lice and so I've treated them all last night. We'll see if it works!

 

[tari]

How old are the ladies?
They may be molting, but it would be good to look for lice and mites.

You have a black hen - can't tell if she's an Australorp, Jersey Giant or possible production bird. Skin color is dictated by breed. Australorp will have white skin, Jersey Giant will have yellow skin. A production breed (hybrid) could have white or yellow skin.
Naked Neck birds, while the featherless portions of their body does turn red due to exposure and sun, the rest of the skin underneath their feathers should be yellow.

Reddening of the skin can be from exposure, picking, etc. in laying hens so just keep watch on the area. NuStock, Hen Healer or similar type products can be applied to the skin if it looks like it's breaking down. Pine Tar can be used to help deter picking.

Wyatt Orp, thanks. This is one of four Black Australorps and she is the one that had an impacted crop you helped me with months ago. I think her crop is compromised a bit but it resolved itself. She's been normal. I increased the grit and oyster shell station during that scare. Her breast area now is definitely inflamed, not natural redness. Besides lice treatment I gave them last night I'll massage her crop and apply NuStock and feed her yogurt and olive oil today. My bird's neck feathers have been pulled during Pierre's mating and the Black Australorps are his favorite girlfriends. We are going away for 3 months this winter and I'm trying to make sure they're healthy enough for a neighbor to come and take care of during our absence.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Wyatt Orp, thanks. This is one of four Black Australorps and she is the one that had an impacted crop you helped me with months ago. I think her crop is compromised a bit but it resolved itself. She's been normal. I increased the grit and oyster shell station during that scare. Her breast area now is definitely inflamed, not natural redness. Besides lice treatment I gave them last night I'll massage her crop and apply NuStock and feed her yogurt and olive oil today. My bird's neck feathers have been pulled during Pierre's mating and the Black Australorps are his favorite girlfriends. We are going away for 3 months this winter and I'm trying to make sure they're healthy enough for a neighbor to come and take care of during our absence.

I would definitely monitor her crop for several mornings in a row just to make sure it's emptying. Sometimes a bird will pick at their breast if they have a crop issue. Could be the crop is getting a little sour.
Hopefully all will be o.k.

 

[tari]

Update on Martha with the inflamed breast and loss of feathers.....I treated the whole flock with Permethryn spray, disinfected the coop and changed all the deep litter. I had found evidence of lice on the feathers the Cuckoo Maran who had gone broody in May and rarely left the nest for about two months. Now I know to care for them and their nests even when broody. She was really infested. After two weeks, they are all looking a lot better; feathers growing back.
Thank you all for your responses!