Is my chicken sick?

[trirealtoramy]

Ive noticed some black scabs on one of my hens. I have 5 ladies. This hen tends to go off on her own when free ranging which is different in last few weeks. What do i do? Im so new at this. She is a year old and I just love her.

 

[Siggie]

I am new as well but just off the top of my head....could she have been attacked by a predator? Or pecked on by the other chickens? I am having a hard time trying to figure out just where the scabs are located by the photo. Or mites? But I think they will lose feathers when they are infested with mites....hopefully somebody chicken savvy will come along to give you a definite answer. Good Luck!

 

[trirealtoramy]

I am new as well but just off the top of my head....could she have been attacked by a predator?  Or pecked on by the other chickens?  I am having a hard time trying to figure out just where the scabs are located by the photo.  Or mites? But I think they will lose feathers when they are infested with mites....hopefully somebody chicken savvy will come along to give you a definite answer.  Good Luck! 

 

[trirealtoramy]

Sorry i forgot to mention the scabs are on her breast bone. She is usually in a preadtor safe coop. Ladies dont appear to attack her. I have only noticed a few feathers in coop and i clean it daily. Thank you for your reply. It helps knowing people try to help. This site is awesome

 

[babybird2003]

The picture is hard to see but could it maybe be tree sap? I have a chicken that gets it on her and I thought they were scabs too. Is she acting normal? Eating / drinking?

 

[trirealtoramy]

The picture is hard to see but could it maybe be tree sap? I have a chicken that gets it on her and I thought they were scabs too. Is she acting normal? Eating / drinking?

Thats interesting about tree sap. My dog gets similar scabs on her belly and now we are thinking it is plant related. We back up to woods and have a lot of foliage out there. I have now found a second hen who has the same thing on her chest. They both eat normal. Im not sure if they are laying eggs. We get 3 or 4 eggs a day. Never had 5 eggs from our 5 ladies. Can plants irritate hens?

 

[babybird2003]

Not sure about plants either. Maybe there's some thing you can soak their belly in to get the sap off if that's it.