Losing feathers, red hot skin?

[Cluck Wild Farm]

My flock is currently battling either Mycoplasma or Coryza. Honestly I don't know at this point, but they are ill. One of my hens is missing feathers on her chest, and belly, and has red, hot patches on the bare portion of her body. Is this due to one of the illnesses I mentioned, or a whole other issue?

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Are they showing any other signs of illness? It is possible they are going through a mad molt. And the red skin, is it inflamed and pussy? Is there any pox also? Hope this helps.

 

[Cluck Wild Farm]

So far I've had a couple with swollen faces, ocular and nasal discharge, chest rattling, and sneezing (I've posted about all that, so if anyone reads this that has seen my other post, sorry to reiterate)... on top of the feather loss, and hot, red patches on one of the hens. I haven't seen any pox, and I'm really hoping I don't get those on my girls, too. I have them on Duramycin-10 (sp?) now. Just hoping that if the feather loss, and hot, red patches are secondary to the mycoplasma/coryza and will be treated with the antibiotic I'm administering. I have certainly learned my lesson, I will NEVER again introduce started pullets into my flock. Six pullets I added last week are slowly but surely taking down my flock of thirty.

 

[Eggcessive]

Lice can do that. The white egg clumps can be seen next tothe skin under the vent by parting the feathers. If found, powder with sevin dust or permethrin/garden and poultry dust. Repeat every 10 days until no eggs are seen, usually 2-3 times.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

So far I've had a couple with swollen faces, ocular and nasal discharge, chest rattling, and sneezing (I've posted about all that, so if anyone reads this that has seen my other post, sorry to reiterate)... on top of the feather loss, and hot, red patches on one of the hens. I haven't seen any pox, and I'm really hoping I don't get those on my girls, too. I have them on Duramycin-10 (sp?) now. Just hoping that if the feather loss, and hot, red patches are secondary to the mycoplasma/coryza and will be treated with the antibiotic I'm administering. I have certainly learned my lesson, I will NEVER again introduce started pullets into my flock. Six pullets I added last week are slowly but surely taking down my flock of thirty.

I believe your chickens have Coryza and I think they might be mottling also. Coryza affects the face and causes severe swelling. All the symptoms involving the face sound like Coryza.

 

[Cluck Wild Farm]

That's what I thought too, and the vet I took one of my hens to diagnosed that as well. She however, did not test my hen. I contacted the previous owner of my new hens, and she said she tested one of her birds three weeks ago, and it came back as mycoplasma. I'm confused, annoyed, and stressed. Some are recommending I cull, and I understand why. It would be the 'easiest' thing to just cull, and start over. However, I've added thirty chicks over the last three months, the last of the new chicks being a month ago, and the thought is almost unbearable. Suddenly, after I (stupidly) added these new started pullets last week because I wanted more eggs and just couldn't wait another three months for my younger girls to start laying, everyone is getting gravely ill.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

That's what I thought too, and the vet I took one of my hens to diagnosed that as well. She however, did not test my hen. I contacted the previous owner of my new hens, and she said she tested one of her birds three weeks ago, and it came back as mycoplasma. I'm confused, annoyed, and stressed. Some are recommending I cull, and I understand why. It would be the 'easiest' thing to just cull, and start over. However, I've added thirty chicks over the last three months, the last of the new chicks being a month ago, and the thought is almost unbearable. Suddenly, after I (stupidly) added these new started pullets last week because I wanted more eggs and just couldn't wait another three months for my younger girls to start laying, everyone is getting gravely ill.

I'm so sorry to hear that! Maybe you should try getting another vet or something. I sure hope you don't have to cull your birds!

 

[cafarmgirl]

Look into getting a bird necropsied. Either one that dies or sacrifice a sick one. It would help you immensely if you knew exactly what all was going on in your flock. Some state labs will do it for free and they will test for everything under the sun. Then you could make a much more informed decision about what to do. Some diseases are more easily managed then others, while others will be nothing but trouble from here on out. Good luck with your birds, that's a hard situation.