Hen raw around beak

[Zeeb]

Hi All,
I have a problem with my silver laced Polish. She appears raw around her beak, the feathers are gone just around the beak area. I noticed after she eats she sometimes rubs her beak on the ground so I thought this may be the problem. However she also scratches it with her toes. I've checked for mites on her head but can't see any. She does seem like a "nervous" bird compared to my Golden Comets and Rhode Islands. She's always shaking her head and startles easily running pell-mell even though I clipped her feathers around her eyes so she could see better. Could it be some kind of disease? I've included a picture but the red and raw area doesn't show up very good because she rubbed it in dirt so what you see is actually much worse.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Polish are nervous flighty birds. I recommend trimming the crest short so they can see better. Mine are still hysterical, but not as hysterical since I started trimming them a couple of years ago.

It wouldn't hurt to also dust her for mites with a pyrethrin based poultry dust. Sometimes mites can get out of control of their heads. I've also have had the bearded variety get ingrown feathers on their face.

Try trimming and dusting to see if it improves. That's my advice anyways.

 

[Zeeb]

I'll see if the local farm store has the pyrethrin if not I will order online. I did find mites on some of my RIs and Comets a few months ago thought I got rid of them. I should dust all of them to be safe. Thanks for your advice.