raw red skin

[tomorton]

I recently "acquired" the care of a small mixed flock...terrible mite problems which I am slowly conquering with poultry dust, plus DE, plus regular cleaning of coop and spraying all the nooks and crannies with liquid sevin...a lot of the hens have lost feathers and their skin is very red and looks painful. Some of them are healing pretty nicely, but some are not. Is there any medicated powder or other medication I can apply to their skin to help with healing?
Thanks in advance!

 

[sourland]

If they are or were with a rooster, much of the damage may be as aresult of breeding activity. If they are still with a rooster, and you have no intentions of hatching eggs seperate him away from the hens. Get the parasite situation under control and when they go through the molt they will be beautifully feathered once again. It took a while for them to become so damaged, and it will be a while before they recover. As alwaays good feed, clean water, and a clean coop are essentials.

 

[LeezyBeezy]

Bless you for taking them in and getting them healthy!! Someone on here had a post about a salve they used. I wrote the recipe down.
1 cup melted unrefined virgin coconut oil (it is a solid when you buy it), 2 tablespoons tea tree oil and 1/2 teaspoon peppermint oil. This was used for mites, I think, but I think it would would to help their sore skin too.

 

[tomorton]

Thanks for your answers....I treated them with Eprinex and the mite situation is under control..their skin is also on the mend.

 

[MotherJean]

Mites can cause a secondary bacterial infection (dermatitis) to take hold on that damaged skin. It wouldn't hurt to give a good broad spectrum antibiotic (Terramycin, Sulmet, Tylan) in the water supply for about 5 days. If you prefer not to use antibiotics, you could instead treat the problem topically with a weak bleach solution dip. Mix 1 cup chlorine bleach in 5 gallons warm water in a tub or bucket large enough to dip the birds up to the neck. Choose a warm, sunny day so you don't need to dry them off. Just dip and turn them loose. Zinc is very healing and is commonly used by skin care experts to aid healing in skin irritations/infections. You can get zinc tablets where other vitamins are sold. Make a bowl of oatmeal mush, crush two zinc tablets to powder and add that to the mush as a daily "treat" for about 5 days.

Good luck. Hope everyone heals up quickly.

 

[tomorton]

Thanks...If I use antibiotics in the water, do I need to withdraw the eggs and if so..for how long?