Hen with skin issue

[BirdLeaf]

She’s sneezing a bit so I was giving her some VetRX when I noticed her skin! Seems like all of her skin is red, when she bends over you can see it through her feathers. Anyone ever seen anything like this?
Edit: this is her belly, between the legs

 

[azygous]

Not until the past two weeks have I seen a skin condition on a chicken like this. We've had two here on BYC, and they looked a lot like your little patient.

I'm going to just go ahead and cut to the chase and recommend you put her on an oral antibiotic such as penicillin. It's very likely your hen has a staph infection on the skin surface. Without an antibiotic, it's likely to just keep getting worse, and if it is staph, it has the potential to develop into a raging case.

It's probably uncomfortable, too, either itchy or burning. Coconut oil smoothed onto the lesions can soothe as well as aid in healing. Or you can also use hydrocortisone cream. But it won't replace the oral antibiotic. You should treat her with both.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Edit: this is her belly, between the legs

I agree with @azygous that it won't hurt to apply an ointment to the wound.

Since this is on her belly, it could also be breast blister and from roosting. How are your roosts made?
Do you happen to have a rooster or has she been broody lately?

The sneezing - how often is she sneezing? Do you notice any particular pattern in the sneezing - like when she eats/drinks?

 

[azygous]

Staph usually takes advantage of a breach in the outer layer of skin, such as an abrasion or cut. So roosting blisters sound like a very possible way the infection started.

It might be a good idea to give the coop a good disinfecting with a bleach solution.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Staph usually takes advantage of a breach in the outer layer of skin, such as an abrasion or cut.

Right you are

 

[BirdLeaf]

She’s one of my new hens, she came to me this way However, the coop she came with could be the culprit! The sneezing is flock-wide unfortunately I’m going to be treating the flock with Tylan starting today, will that be enough or should I also pick up some penicillin for her? Thank you both!

 

[azygous]

The Tylan should cover it. If the staph proves resistant to the Tylan, then you can then try another antibiotic. If it is going to work, you should see results within a week.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She’s one of my new hens...The sneezing is flock-wide unfortunately

Do they have any other symptoms? Mucous/runny nose, facial swelling, discharge from the eyes, cough, etc.?

Sneezing by itself and since it seems to be spreading fairly rapidly through the flock, could be Infectious Bronchitis which is a virus and symptoms can last for 4-6wks. The flock would still be carriers for up to a year, so any new chickens you bring in can become symptomatic and contract it. IB also can impact egg production and quality.

If sneezing is the only symptom, then it may be wise to see if they improve on their own with supportive care of the VetRx, vitamins in the water and having a good balanced poultry feed.

If they develop other symptoms or become lethargic, go off food/water, then treating with an antibiotic may help with secondary infection.

There are quite a few respiratory illnesses that do have similar symptoms http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044 so without testing or until they have more symptoms sometimes it's hard to know which one you have. Mycoplasma, ILT and Infectious Coryza are also common. These particular illnesses make the flock carriers for life, even when recovered. Antibiotics may help with secondary infections.

If you do treat with injectable Tylan50, I recommend that you give it orally. You will need to weigh each bird to give them the correct dosage. Injectable Tylan50 has a fairly wide dosing - of 10-40 mg/kg given 2-3times per day.

 

[WVduckchick]

There are quite a few respiratory illnesses that do have similar symptoms http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044 so without testing or until they have more symptoms sometimes it's hard to know which one you have.

Excellent reference. Thank you!

 

[BirdLeaf]

Do they have any other symptoms? Mucous/runny nose, facial swelling, discharge from the eyes, cough, etc.?

Sneezing by itself and since it seems to be spreading fairly rapidly through the flock, could be Infectious Bronchitis which is a virus and symptoms can last for 4-6wks. The flock would still be carriers for up to a year, so any new chickens you bring in can become symptomatic and contract it. IB also can impact egg production and quality.

If sneezing is the only symptom, then it may be wise to see if they improve on their own with supportive care of the VetRx, vitamins in the water and having a good balanced poultry feed.

If they develop other symptoms or become lethargic, go off food/water, then treating with an antibiotic may help with secondary infection.

There are quite a few respiratory illnesses that do have similar symptoms http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044 so without testing or until they have more symptoms sometimes it's hard to know which one you have. Mycoplasma, ILT and Infectious Coryza are also common. These particular illnesses make the flock carriers for life, even when recovered. Antibiotics may help with secondary infections.

If you do treat with injectable Tylan50, I recommend that you give it orally. You will need to weigh each bird to give them the correct dosage. Injectable Tylan50 has a fairly wide dosing - of 10-40 mg/kg given 2-3times per day.

Some of them are really lethargic, a few have swollen faces, there’s mucus galore, and a few have “spitty” eyes sometimes. Some seem just fine, no symptoms of any kind, but the ones that are sick are pretty sleepy and won’t leave the warmth of the coop. I haven’t heard any of them cough, but one of my beautiful roosters sounds like a coffee pot brewing. One of the hens had a string of spit hanging from her mouth, another has died from this already. Some of them are still laying, others aren’t. It’s awful. I’m still very new to chickens and I feel like this is a nightmare! I was giving them vetRX but it wasn’t helping at all.
Thank you for the link! I’ll have to read it ASAP!