Is this a scab? Redness and broken/missing feathers on underside

[Peck-n-Poot]

Hi new here! Have a 16 month old Red Star hen that has had missing/broken feathers & redness on underbelly and front of neck (throat area) for last 6+ months. She's highly active and a daily layer. When the redness occurred we did some research and assumed it must be lice or mites, although the online pictures we found never really matched up and we couldn't find conclusive evidence, but we took all recommended precautionary measures with coop cleaning, poultry sprays, DE dusted in coop, another natural parasite repellant dust, and a poultry dust we applied to the flock. Our hen has continued to act normal and be active so we've just kept an eye on her, until yesterday evening when she suddenly started acting lethargic and instead of getting on the roost like the other girls was standing around with her wings slightly extended out. Upon closer inspection we saw the redness from her underside now extended up to the skin covering her crop and that there is an abnormal area that I can best describe as a white and brown "scab" (?) on her underside. We didn't know what to do, but we dusted her again last night and gave her a dose of DMG. She appears active again this morning, but oddly didn't lay an egg (even though she went to the nesting box at her usual time). Does anyone have any suggestions or insight? Any idea what the thing that sorta looks like a "scab" is? Is it something we should have a vet look at it? Pictures attached. Appreciate the help! Thank you so much!!

 

[LaFleche]

This looks like a breast blister/breast button and sore skin to me.

What accommodation do your chickens have for the night, where do they roost and what do the roosts look like?

 

[Peck-n-Poot]

This looks like a breast blister/breast button and sore skin to me.

What accommodation do your chickens have for the night, where do they roost and what do the roosts look like?

Thank you for your reply!!

All 6 of our hens prefer to sleep in the outdoor area of the coop instead of the inside space. The outdoor space measures at 11ft x 7ft roofed area with wire for walls and dirt + hay for the ground. Their roost is a 7ft long natural tree trunk/branch from our yard that is 30 inches off the ground and the diameter is roughly 1 1/2 inches. I spray the roost down with poultry spray ever 3-4 weeks as I've read that mites like to hide on the underside.

I haven't heard of breast blister before. Thank you for that info. Any suggestions how to treat? Or should I get her in to see a vet instead of trying to treat myself?

The long branch in the foreground of this photo is the one they roost on:

 

[coach723]

That doesn't look too bad yet so you can likely treat it yourself. You will need to remedy the rubbing when she roosts to prevent it again. You can try padding the roost with old towels, or something else that they can't pick pieces off of and swallow. Check this bird for any signs of bumblefoot or other foot/leg issues that may make her roost incorrectly. Some heavy birds will rest their keels on the roost simply because they are heavy. I would clean it off really well with chlorhexidine (hibiclens) or a diluted betadine solution. Soak to soften and remove the scabs and clean it out well underneath. Then apply some plain neosporin or plain triple antibiotic ointment a couple of times a day. Healing is going to be dependent on stopping the continued rubbing/pressure of her resting on it when she roosts.
Breasts blisters left untreated that get worse can become pretty nasty, it's like bumblefoot on the breast. Here is a thread with a pretty bad one:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ister-graphic-pictures.1096276/#post-16850510

 

[Peck-n-Poot]

That doesn't look too bad yet so you can likely treat it yourself. You will need to remedy the rubbing when she roosts to prevent it again. You can try padding the roost with old towels, or something else that they can't pick pieces off of and swallow. Check this bird for any signs of bumblefoot or other foot/leg issues that may make her roost incorrectly. Some heavy birds will rest their keels on the roost simply because they are heavy. I would clean it off really well with chlorhexidine (hibiclens) or a diluted betadine solution. Soak to soften and remove the scabs and clean it out well underneath. Then apply some plain neosporin or plain triple antibiotic ointment a couple of times a day. Healing is going to be dependent on stopping the continued rubbing/pressure of her resting on it when she roosts.
Breasts blisters left untreated that get worse can become pretty nasty, it's like bumblefoot on the breast. Here is a thread with a pretty bad one:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ister-graphic-pictures.1096276/#post-16850510

Thank you!! This is great info!! Interesting what you mentioned about the heavy birds as she is the heaviest in our flock and weighs about 4.9 lbs. So, should we try to put some kind of bandage type thing over the blister after cleaning, removing the scab and applying neosporin to try to keep it clean? Is that even possible?

 

[coach723]

That is a difficult area to bandage and keep it on. If needed, you can, you will likely have to wrap all the way around the body to keep it on, and some birds won't tolerate it. I had a roo with bumblefoot who was developing a breast blister during treatment. I padded his roost area (he roosts in exactly the same place every night) and applied ointment twice a day until it was healed up and didn't have to try to wrap him. Once his bumblefoot resolved he is now able to roost normally again and no more issues. You can also try replacing the roost with something larger/wider which may help her roost easier. I find my larger birds are more comfortable on 2 x 4 roost laid long side up, they can more easily stand on them.

 

[LaFleche]

I spray the roost down with poultry spray ever 3-4 weeks as I've read that mites like to hide on the underside.

What kind of poultry spray do you use? Sometimes chickens can react somewhat sensitive to overexposure to chemicals, leading to redness of the skin (mostly breast, foot pads etc.)


https://www.msdvetmanual.com/poultry/miscellaneous-conditions-of-poultry/breast-blisters-in-poultry

https://www.msdvetmanual.com/poultry/miscellaneous-conditions-of-poultry/breast-buttons-in-poultry

 

[Peck-n-Poot]

What kind of poultry spray do you use? Sometimes chickens can react somewhat sensitive to overexposure to chemicals, leading to redness of the skin (mostly breast, foot pads etc.)


https://www.msdvetmanual.com/poultry/miscellaneous-conditions-of-poultry/breast-blisters-in-poultry

https://www.msdvetmanual.com/poultry/miscellaneous-conditions-of-poultry/breast-buttons-in-poultry

Hmmm...that's a good point to consider. The spray we've used in the coop and on the roost is called Pure Planet Poultry Spray. We also sprinkle some of The Poultry Store Parasite Control on the floor of the coop and their run along with food grade diatomaceous earth. We had applied some poultry dust our vet gave us (I believe she had said it's Permethrin) directly on our flock back in April and that is what we used again the night before on our little hen the evening before I made this post. However, there had been redness and missing/broken feathers on the underside of this particular hen and another prior to using any of the above listed products though and that condition is what prompted us to look into mites and other parasites as a potential cause and to try to rule that out and deter a future issue even if it wasn't the current cause as we couldn't ever find conclusive proof.

Here's the labels for the Pure Planet Poultry Spray and The Poultry Store Parasite Control we use in the coop:

 

[LaFleche]

Myristic acid can have an irritating effect causing redness and swelling after repeated use:

"Allergologie (Relevanz)​

Experimentelle Daten bei Tierversuchen weisen auf eine schwach hautreizende Wirkung der Myristinsäure bei wiederholtem Kontakt hin. Es traten nach wiederholter offener Applikation handelsüblicher Myristinsäure leichte bis mäßige Rötungen, z.T. auch Schwellungen der Haut auf."

Source: https://www.alles-zur-allergologie.de/Allergologie/Artikel/5239/Allergen,Allergie/Myristinsäure/

 

[Peck-n-Poot]

Myristic acid can have an irritating effect causing redness and swelling after repeated use:

"Allergologie (Relevanz)​

Experimentelle Daten bei Tierversuchen weisen auf eine schwach hautreizende Wirkung der Myristinsäure bei wiederholtem Kontakt hin. Es traten nach wiederholter offener Applikation handelsüblicher Myristinsäure leichte bis mäßige Rötungen, z.T. auch Schwellungen der Haut auf."

Source: https://www.alles-zur-allergologie.de/Allergologie/Artikel/5239/Allergen,Allergie/Myristinsäure/

Thank you for sharing that with me about one of the ingredients in the spray. It’s crazy how the label instructs spraying directly on poultry as well. So hard to know what is actually a safe product to use or not. So potentially I guess spraying it on the roost could have made her already bare and red underside worse