Not an immediate emergency- pulled feathers and possible abcess? Pictures

[tickens33]

Does anyone know what could have happened here? Did he pull his own feathers or were they pulled by his coopmates? Our chickens are about 10 weeks old and we are pretty sure this one is the rooster, so we'd be especially surprised if the coopmates pecked him.

Our chickens are on a remote hobby farm property about 40 minutes away. It's currently Friday afternoon and the last time I checked them in person was Wednesday evening. So this must have happened sometime in the last day or so.

Any advice on how to deal with this would be appreciated. We were planning on treating with saline and antibiotic ointment. We have hen healer as well (the blue stuff) but have found it sometimes makes the other chickens interested and peck more. So we'd probably forgo the hen healer unless someone strongly recommends it.

Also, does this look like a potential abscess or is that just what the area under a chicken's tail feathers looks like? We are brand new to raising chickens so everything that happens is something we're seeing for the first time.

 

[LaFleche]

Are they cooped up during the time you are not there?

If so, provide more space, roosts and clutter so they can get out of each others faces for some rest if they feel like it.

I would spray each and everyone of you birds' parsons nose/rump area with BlueKote so the plucked bird will get treatment but not stand out.

How much protein does their feed contain?

 

[tickens33]

Are they cooped up during the time you are not there?

I just made a separate post about some of them eating poop, so I'll copy and paste the details from that post:

We are still working on the run so they don't get much outside time yet, so maybe they are just bored or crowded. However, their coop has almost 3x the recommended amount of space for their size, there's bars for them to hop on, and we throw big clumps of dirt in there for them to peck and scratch, and bowls of wood ash to dust bathe. From what's been recommended to us, it seems like adequate enrichment.

Additionally, they were brooded 100% indoors in a city apartment in a much smaller space, and they didn't do this back then. We thought that a couple weeks in the coop while we built the run would be a good transition period from being fully indoors to free outdoor access.

If so, provide more space, roosts and clutter so they can get out of each others faces for some rest if they feel like it.

We are building a pen today for them to have supervised outdoor access when we are present, so hopefully that will help?

I would spray each and everyone of you birds' parsons nose/rump area with BlueKote so the plucked bird will get treatment but not stand out.

We don't currently have Blue Kote but I'm about to make a trip to tractor supply so maybe I can get it there? I don't know anything about how to utilize it, just spray it on?

How much protein does their feed contain?

18% protein, it is an organic feed from tractor supply

Thank you so so much

 

[LaFleche]

I don't know anything about how to utilize it, just spray it on?

Yes, just grab each bird from the roost at night and spray it on. Using a headlight leaves both hands free to work on them.

But I recommend to wear some old clothes and disposable gloves as it is hard to get BlueKote off your hands and clothes.

How old are your birds?

How much natural light do they have in their coop?

 

[tickens33]

Yes, just grab each bird from the roost at night and spray it on. Using a headlight leaves both hands free to work on them.

But I recommend to wear some old clothes and disposable gloves as it is hard to get BlueKote off your hands and clothes.

How old are your birds?

How much natural light do they have in their coop?

They are about 10 weeks old and they've been in their coop for 2 weeks. So they dont even sleep on the roosting bar yet, they all sleep together in a big pile still with our suspected rooster on top.

Most of the natural light comes from the gable ventilation and small vent holes along the top. They also have a window at chicken height that they like to peek out of. We've seem on the camera inside the coop that the window is where they sleep. The light in there gets a little dim toward the evening but during most of the day and especially the afternoon it's pretty bright in there, at least to human eyes.

 

[LaFleche]

At 10 weeks old they should be outside the whole day long. Actually, they should have daily gotten some hours of natural sunlight and ranging and discovering from the age of 2-3 weeks.

Keeping them cooped up without allowing 6-8 hours of natural sunlight will interfere with the functionality of their metabolism/hormones and lead to all kinds of issues such as caused by vitamin D deficiency.

ETA: Install low roosting bars with a poop board underneath, this will help to keep the coop floor cleaner.
Provide a ladder for them to climb up to the roosting bar and put them up on the roost at night. After two or three times they get the hang of it and will climb up without help.

 

[tickens33]

At 10 weeks old they should be outside the whole day long. Actually, they should have daily gotten some hours of natural sunlight and ranging and discovering from the age of 2-3 weeks.

Keeping them cooped up without allowing 6-8 hours of natural sunlight will interfere with the functionality of their metabolism/hormones and lead to all kinds of issues such as caused by vitamin D deficiency.

ETA: Install low roosting bars with a poop board underneath, this will help to keep the coop floor cleaner.
Provide a ladder for them to climb up to the roosting bar and put them up on the roost at night. After two or three times they get the hang of it and will climb up without help.

Thank you for the information. So just to confirm, you think this does look like another chicken pulled his feathers? The entire run won't be finished today but a small section is almost done. So they'll have free outdoor access starting today, about 20 square feet (ETA the completed run will be way bigger within the next 1-2 weeks, we are doing it in small sections as time and funds allow). Do you think that will decrease the behavior that lead to this?

Since youre the only one who's answered, I'll ask you ask well-- does this look like an abscess to you?

 

[LaFleche]

So just to confirm, you think this does look like another chicken pulled his feathers?

Yes.

Do you think that will decrease the behavior that lead to this?

Yes, as exploring the outdoors will keep them entertained and distract them from obsessive behaviour caused by boredom in close quarters

does this look like an abscess to you?

No, it is a normal part of a chickens body where the tail feathers will grow.

Here is a link with a picture as example

https://fossemeadows.com/product/ch...he parson's nose is the,in many parts of Asia.