Red area below vent

[HeyHo]

My BO has a bright red patch below her vent, with no feathers. It is a little swollen, but not too bad. I had trimmed some of the feathers in August when they got poopy but now she seems to have lost a big patch. She is head hen, 1.5 years old, heading into a molt, laying irregularly over the last few weeks. She is eating well, pecking, preening, etc.

This doesn't look like mites to me, perhaps feather picking? Ascites? Or just molting? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

 

[azygous]

The swelling more than the redness is my concern. While red skin can indicate a skin inflammation, the redness along with the swelling can indicate a reproductive infection.

You need to observe other possible symptoms. How is her behavior and appetite? Can you feel her keel bone? Is she much lighter than she should be? How is her poop? Color? Consistency? Has she had any problems with egg shell quality? Shell less eggs?

 

[Trevorusn]

Curious, one of my SF hens as a similar spot in the same location, same scenario.

 

[TwentyOneChickens]

My BO has a bright red patch below her vent, with no feathers. It is a little swollen, but not too bad. I had trimmed some of the feathers in August when they got poopy but now she seems to have lost a big patch. She is head hen, 1.5 years old, heading into a molt, laying irregularly over the last few weeks. She is eating well, pecking, preening, etc.

This doesn't look like mites to me, perhaps feather picking? Ascites? Or just molting? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Curious, one of my SF hens as a similar spot in the same location, same scenario.

Same with my hen, Martha! What is going on?!

 

[Trevorusn]

The swelling more than the redness is my concern. While red skin can indicate a skin inflammation, the redness along with the swelling can indicate a reproductive infection.

You need to observe other possible symptoms. How is her behavior and appetite? Can you feel her keel bone? Is she much lighter than she should be? How is her poop? Color? Consistency? Has she had any problems with egg shell quality? Shell less eggs?

For mine at least, my girl lays normal with solid eggshells. No pain, eats and drinks like normal, poops look normal as well with no runniness or discoloration. She is behaving as she always has, nothing seems abnormal. She is molting, I'll feel her keel tonight but she looks sizewise like her sister who does not have a red bum area.

 

[Trevorusn]

Same with my hen, Martha! What is going on?!

Same age?? What breed? Guess we may all learn something today hopefully.

 

[TwentyOneChickens]

Same age?? What breed? Guess we may all learn something today hopefully.

She is also around 1.5 years (maybe a little more), and a Red Sexlink.

 

[azygous]

A very common cause of swollen abdomen is fat accumulation. If left to develop over time, it can result in fatty liver disease and other complications leading to death.

I suggest you examine the diet of these hens and determine if they may be overindulging in carbs in the form of too many treats. The treatment is to cut out all carbs except for what's present in their commercial feed.

 

[HeyHo]

You need to observe other possible symptoms. How is her behavior and appetite? Can you feel her keel bone? Is she much lighter than she should be? How is her poop? Color? Consistency? Has she had any problems with egg shell quality? Shell less eggs?

Her behavior and appetite are good. She has seemed a little light lately, I have been able to feel her keel bone. But she was attacked by a hawk a few weeks ago and, checking her over after that, I noticed some bumble foot, so I had been treating that as well. Poor girl has had a rough month! I have been babying her with separate bowls of scrambled eggs and mealworms to get her weight up and help healing.

Poop has been good, totally normal. But I will monitor that closely this afternoon. She has not had any shell less egg issues. (Although one of my other girls did over the summer when I was feeding flock raiser with oyster shell on the side. But now that I switched to layer pellets, all the girls have have been fine.)

 

[HeyHo]

I suggest you examine the diet of these hens and determine if they may be overindulging in carbs in the form of too many treats. The treatment is to cut out all carbs except for what's present in their commercial feed.

I feed layer pellets. Treats include only scrambled eggs, yogurt and greens. I used to use scratch to call them back to the coop after free-ranging, but they are now well trained and I don't even have to do this. So they haven't even had scratch for 3-4 months.

My other 7 girls are all in good health with no issues.