My 1.5 year old hen contracted a bad skin infection that I first didn’t even notice for a while. I went to the vet and he prescribed antibiotics (Nystatin and Enrofloxacin) and a topical cream (Fura-zone). I’m administering it now since two weeks and it’s just getting worse everyday. The next step the vet suggested is to do a skin culture and develop a more targeted medicine which takes up to 1.5 weeks and I don’t think my poor chicken has that much time left. It’s really bad. She plug out all her feathers around the infected areas on her breast and between her feet. It starts with pink bumps that then get crusty and some break open. Has anybody seen anything like this before? I almost want to end her misery but wanted to post here before I do that. She is also still eating which makes me hold off. Poop is solid, but greenish. She is sleeping a lot, mostly with her head tug beneath the wing. If I let her out in the garden she just wants to hide and finds a corner. The wounds look so bad by now I’m surprised she is still alive.
Yes, i have seen this before and it is not getting worse, it is healing and is going to scab up. In fact it looks almost ready to peel off except it is still oozing blood. It may turn black whem it is ready to peel. I had a bantam hen that was sick/immun compromised as a baby and a peck wound became infected and grew into a similar monstrosity. She is alive today and one of my most gentle and favorite hens.
I would finish the antibiitics the vet gave you, and stop using the cream the vet gave you. Instead apply coconut oil on the wound. Let it saturate you will see a color chamge and it will look better. The coconut oil is antibacterial and will improve the look in a few days.
When I finally pulled the scab away, it looked like almost half her head came off, and her entire comb came off too, but the skin underneath was smooth and new. Today she is normal. It is an infection, it is an infected comb tp be more precise. Apply cocnut oil daily and it will peel off soon.
Edit. Cover the open wound portion as well with the coconut oil. I use a wood skewer to apply the oil. It looks identical to when my hen was ill, they even had the leg scab too. Dont do any more vet visits for this, it is healing and needs the oil for a few days and the scab will harden and you can peel it off if you can stomach it, it was very unpleasant looking, but the skin was like smooth and new underneath. The bad news is your hen may have marecks or another chronic illness, as mine does. I do not know what she has, but i suspect she has a chronic viral illness, but has been without symptoms a long time. When you apply the oil with a woodem skewer or toothpick, try peeling away around the edges, you'll find it will start to lift off, there should be no blood or pain, it will fall off like any scab.
