Hen is balding near vent, skin red and inflamed

[Fintechie]

The spray won't hurt if she doesn't have it.

You can try some vaseline. I think it will merely be a dirt attracter, though.

It could be some simple loss of feathers that is harmless. We can hope.
LofMc

I notice one of my 18-month old barred rocks having the same bald area. Seems getting worse. And her poop is brown squishy. Appreciated if you suggest how I should address it.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

I notice one of my 18-month old barred rocks having the same bald area. Seems getting worse. And her poop is brown squishy. Appreciated if you suggest how I should address it.

Hi there.

Sorry this is happening with your chicken! I don't want to scare you because I'm not sure your chicken is having the same issue, but mine went downhill pretty fast shortly after this thread, and she passed away. Then my other Golden Comet followed in an identical manner about a month later. Is your chicken laying normal eggs? Both of mine laid soft shell and/or lash eggs in the lead up to their death. The bald spot showed a lot sooner in the first chicken, but in both it swelled a lot at the end and seemed to be filled with a liquid. I think they both had salpingitis, along with other miscellaneous reproductive issues because they were those high-production layers. With that, there's not too much you can do, although I think I prolonged my second chicken's life a little with a week-long dose of avian antibiotics.

Anyway, I'm no pro but I think the best course of action for you is to rule out the easier stuff first. Check for lice. Then check the vent for an egg that is stuck (put on a glove and gently put a finger about 2 inches into vent). Those are two easy things to rule out without doing anything invasive. I would also check poop for worms, but they can still have worms even if you can't see it in the poop. There are articles on this site about knowing the signs of worms, so check those out and if it seems like that's the issue, you may need to deworm the flock. But if you rule all of this stuff out, your chicken may be having some reproductive issues like mine was. I never truly figured out the cause. I just think by the end of their life, their reproductive system was a mess from all that laying. We ended up humanely culling both of them because they were no longer walking, eating, or drinking at the end and seemed to be in a lot of pain.

But this may not be what's going on with yours so I don't want to scare you. I'm just updating you on what happened. Is your hen showing any other symptoms? How is her energy level? Egg laying? Shell quality?

 

[Fintechie]

Hi there.

Sorry this is happening with your chicken! I don't want to scare you because I'm not sure your chicken is having the same issue, but mine went downhill pretty fast shortly after this thread, and she passed away. Then my other Golden Comet followed in an identical manner about a month later. Is your chicken laying normal eggs? Both of mine laid soft shell and/or lash eggs in the lead up to their death. The bald spot showed a lot sooner in the first chicken, but in both it swelled a lot at the end and seemed to be filled with a liquid. I think they both had salpingitis, along with other miscellaneous reproductive issues because they were those high-production layers. With that, there's not too much you can do, although I think I prolonged my second chicken's life a little with a week-long dose of avian antibiotics.

Anyway, I'm no pro but I think the best course of action for you is to rule out the easier stuff first. Check for lice. Then check the vent for an egg that is stuck (put on a glove and gently put a finger about 2 inches into vent). Those are two easy things to rule out without doing anything invasive. I would also check poop for worms, but they can still have worms even if you can't see it in the poop. There are articles on this site about knowing the signs of worms, so check those out and if it seems like that's the issue, you may need to deworm the flock. But if you rule all of this stuff out, your chicken may be having some reproductive issues like mine was. I never truly figured out the cause. I just think by the end of their life, their reproductive system was a mess from all that laying. We ended up humanely culling both of them because they were no longer walking, eating, or drinking at the end and seemed to be in a lot of pain.

But this may not be what's going on with yours so I don't want to scare you. I'm just updating you on what happened. Is your hen showing any other symptoms? How is her energy level? Egg laying? Shell quality?

Thank you so much for sharing. Sorry for your loss. She is active and acting normal. Her rear end appears like this for some time now. I just noticed her poop today - I do get concerned if their poop is squishy. Not sure if she is laying now but no soft-shell. Ino signs of worm and I dewormed the flock a few months ago. I also feed them apple cider vinegar now and then. So I will keep a closer eye on her.

Btw, I lost my favorite hen a month and half ago. I still tear up when I think of her… very hard.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

Thank you so much for sharing. Sorry for your loss. She is active and acting normal. Her rear end appears like this for some time now. I just noticed her poop today - I do get concerned if their poop is squishy. Not sure if she is laying now but no soft-shell. Ino signs of worm and I dewormed the flock a few months ago. I also feed them apple cider vinegar now and then. So I will keep a closer eye on her.

Btw, I lost my favorite hen a month and half ago. I still tear up when I think of her… very hard.

Yes, it really is hard. The one I originally posted about on this thread was my favorite. I only got to have her with my for about 5 months before she went. But I am still glad I had her.

For your hen, I would keep an eye out for reproductive issues such as salpingitis or egg binding. I never quite figured out the cause of the balding/inflamed abdomen on my chicken, but when her other reproductive issues got worse, so did the balding/inflamation, so I suspect it was connected in some way. This is a completely unprofessional opinion, but just observations I made because no one seemed to know what was wrong with my hen. I hope your girl pulls through! I would feed her some plain yogurt to promote healthier poops. See if that helps at all.

Keep me updated!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I notice one of my 18-month old barred rocks having the same bald area. Seems getting worse. And her poop is brown squishy. Appreciated if you suggest how I should address it.

I'm sorry you are concerned for your hen, and the lost of your first one.

The poop honestly looks like normal cecal. Every 5th poop or so is this orangey loose stuff to clear out the pipes, so to speak.

Bare bum has lots of reasons from very minor (molting to breeding damage) to more concerning (vent gleet...a fungal infection) to tragic (ascetis...or fluid build usually from liver or heart failure).

It can also be from feather picking due to parasites.

If she is well. Eating, drinking, and mostly firm poops with cecal only every third or so, she is probably fine. Check for bugs. Check that her tummy doesn't feel squishy (ascites). Check to see if her vent looks irritated and messy (vent gleet).

My ideas.
LofMc

 

[Fintechie]

I'm sorry you are concerned for your hen, and the lost of your first one.

The poop honestly looks like normal cecal. Every 5th poop or so is this orangey loose stuff to clear out the pipes, so to speak.

Bare bum has lots of reasons from very minor (molting to breeding damage) to more concerning (vent gleet...a fungal infection) to tragic (ascetis...or fluid build usually from liver or heart failure).

It can also be from feather picking due to parasites.

If she is well. Eating, drinking, and mostly firm poops with cecal only every third or so, she is probably fine. Check for bugs. Check that her tummy doesn't feel squishy (ascites). Check to see if her vent looks irritated and messy (vent gleet).

My ideas.
LofMc

Yes she is active and everything else looks normal. I learned something from you that poops of periodic nature. Thank you. Will try to check out other factors.

 

[Crystals chicks 101]

UPDATE:

So I flipped her on her back and inspected the area closer. I didn't see signs of mites or lice.

However, here are my other observations:

1. Not sure if she was scared or what, but I felt/saw a milky-looking liquid drip onto my leg when I was inspecting her. Could this just be from her being frightened? Do chickens pee? Or could this be some sort of discharge?

2. The actual bald spot is 3-4 inches below the actual vent. I felt the skin on the bald spot and it is shiny, red and white blotchy, and is flaky/peeling in some spots. Unfortunately that area did seem a little swollen. I picked up my other Golden Comet to feel her in that area and compare. It was hard to tell, but Henrietta's did seem swollen.

3. The vent itself was mildly moist (seemed normal to me - a novice). I did see what looked to be dark, dried poop below it. But I assume that is somewhat normal?

4. I don't think she is molting. She is still laying eggs daily and this is the only spot that lost feathers.

With that said, what seems most likely to you guys? I am totally at a loss here. This is all new to me.

Please help if you can because she is my most beloved hen.

She has mites I went to the same thing with my hen my ex-husband gave me to her because he didn't want to take care of her because she can't walk so I took her so he didn't kill her and because she couldn't get her regular dust baths I tried bathing her myself but apparently not enough she's infested was tested with infested with lice and mites now it's just mites I used permethrin I had to get ivermectin then it was so bad to get rid of them now the lice are gone but I can't get rid of the mites she has the same eggs on the base of her feathers and about all of her feathers are gone right down to the skin will send pics if I can figure out how but I can't get rid of the mites. I ended up using elector PSP seems to help for about a week but they just keep coming back maybe I'm not cleaning the area enough that she stays in which I did at least 10 times so far but that was the only thing that got rid of them immediately but for me temporarily,. And it's completely safe to use I trust it more than the permethrin made her sick. Take 10 mL into a gallon of water and dunker in it except for her head of course till she's thoroughly soaked and let her dry like that she was a completely different bird the next day but like I said they came back. I believe they're deploying mites because of the feather thing cuz I can't see anything on her but her feathers are disappearing everyday and she's not molting. Like I said I will put pictures on but I can't figure out how yet

 

[Crystals chicks 101]

Very easy to send pictures I just had to join first

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

She has mites I went to the same thing with my hen my ex-husband gave me to her because he didn't want to take care of her because she can't walk so I took her so he didn't kill her and because she couldn't get her regular dust baths I tried bathing her myself but apparently not enough she's infested was tested with infested with lice and mites now it's just mites I used permethrin I had to get ivermectin then it was so bad to get rid of them now the lice are gone but I can't get rid of the mites she has the same eggs on the base of her feathers and about all of her feathers are gone right down to the skin will send pics if I can figure out how but I can't get rid of the mites. I ended up using elector PSP seems to help for about a week but they just keep coming back maybe I'm not cleaning the area enough that she stays in which I did at least 10 times so far but that was the only thing that got rid of them immediately but for me temporarily,. And it's completely safe to use I trust it more than the permethrin made her sick. Take 10 mL into a gallon of water and dunker in it except for her head of course till she's thoroughly soaked and let her dry like that she was a completely different bird the next day but like I said they came back. I believe they're deploying mites because of the feather thing cuz I can't see anything on her but her feathers are disappearing everyday and she's not molting. Like I said I will put pictures on but I can't figure out how yet

This thread is from 2 years ago. But anyway, she did not have mites. She had salpingitis and this swelling seems to be a side effect because I've had it happen to two other production-type hens since this. We put all 3 down when they got too bad.

I'm sorry but I can't tell what is wrong with your hen and it was very difficult to read your comment because of the run-on sentences (no offense intended, but it's the truth). You may want to consider posting about your hen in the medical help section. There are a lot of really good, knowledgeable people there who may be able to help. Best of luck with your hen!