Hen with swollen undercarriage and loss of feathers

[shana622]

I have a laying hen who is about 1 year old, and we have recently noticed that her undercarriage is red and missing feathers. It is below and to the left of her rear end, doesn't look like it is her vent, and she doesn't have a pasty butt. It may be swollen, but doesn't seem to effect her getting around, and I believe that she is eating and drinking, but I'm not out there all the time. We do not have a rooster and I haven't seen any of the other hens beating on her. Any thoughts?

 

[Yello]

I too have a hen with a bare, red butt. Just underneath the vent. Everything seems to be fine except that it looks bad.

 

[realsis]

it very well could be a protein deficiency .increase protein see if that helps. at the very least it will help her grow her feathers faster. im sure you already checked for mites so I'd increase protein and see if it helps. others have had success with increase protein for bald butt. I've done some reading on it. hope this helps. sure wont hurt to try. best wishes to you!

 

[chicklet mcpoo]

Hi there! I have the same problem right now with one of our silver laced wyanndottes. She is missing feathers on her backside. The skin is red and sore looking. She has what I would call a "messy" butt, but not scabbed over or glued shut where I would have to be soaking her or anything. But you would have a messy one too if you didn't have feathers back there. Anyway, What really worries me is that one of my other silver laced died from (I believe) the same thing or something very similar....just a few wks ago. I would go out to collect eggs in the morning and I started to notice that someone was bleeding when they laid theirs. So I tried to find out who and started watching her. She continued to lay just fine, but I went in one morning and found her dead in the hen house. When I put them to bed the night before I didn't notice anyone acting "sick" It was such a shock! So, now I don't know if it's a problem with the breed, or something completely different? I've had chickens for 10 yrs and have never had problems like this. Any ideas???