pullet's comb, rump & feet bright red

[beaglex3]

this morning when i let our hens out of the coop, i noticed that one of our barred plymouth rock pullet's comb was bright red. upon closer inspection i saw that she is missing feathers on her rump and the skin there is also bright red, as are her feet. our temps drop down to the teens at night, but i checked and it was 24 degrees in the coop where they roosted all night so i'm not thinking frostbite. while i watched her, she walked around fine, but when she stopped, she would lift alternate feet, standing on only one at a time. one of the other pullet's feet are a little red but the other 12 look fine. any ideas??? Thanx!!

 

[Chickenfan4life]

Do you know for sure she's a pullet?

The red feet make me think rooster. Roosters have red feet because of their male hormones. A bright red comb is also a rooster trait. Pullets don't have combs as bright red as roosters do. The red rump is also (I think) a male hormone thing.

If you have two of them like this and have never gotten eggs from them to know they are pullets, then there is the big chance that they are roosters.

Pictures would be helpful...

 

[casportpony]

this morning when i let our hens out of the coop, i noticed that one of our barred plymouth rock pullet's comb was bright red. upon closer inspection i saw that she is missing feathers on her rump and the skin there is also bright red, as are her feet. our temps drop down to the teens at night, but i checked and it was 24 degrees in the coop where they roosted all night so i'm not thinking frostbite. while i watched her, she walked around fine, but when she stopped, she would lift alternate feet, standing on only one at a time. one of the other pullet's feet are a little red but the other 12 look fine. any ideas??? Thanx!!

Mites, lice or both can cause this.

 

[beaglex3]

thank you for your replies. i'm sure she's a pullet. we have 14 chickens and have gotten 14 eggs in one day so we're sure all are pullets...or maybe hens by now as they are almost a year old. she is still missing feathers and her rump, feet and comb are redder that the other ladies', but otherwise is healthy. i checked her for mites/lice and didn't see anything. plus, wouldn't the other chickens have them by now if that was the problem. i have 3 dust baths with ashes and de that they use frequently. i was hoping that would prevent infestation. i'll just keep an eye on her and if i get a chance, i'll take some pics and post them. thanks again!

 

[beaglex3]

we still have hens with red featherless bottoms and are beginning to wonder if it could be a result of the 6 inch board roosts we use. we scrape the poop off of the boards every morning so they don't have to stand/sit in their iwn poop for nights on end, but we're wondering if the poop from 1 night and the ammonia build up may be causing the loss of feathers and irritation on their rumps. any thoughts on this???
thank you