My three year-old Black Copper Marans x Buckeye hen Tabasco was acting a bit lethargic this morning, with her beak open panting a bit (not dramatically, but it's not warm at all today, just muggy). I grabbed her and gave her not one, but two thorough goings-over with a flashlight.
I saw no bugs or signs of bugs (all of her feathers otherwise look beautiful considering she's due to molt), no peck marks, no eggs laid on her by insects, but the area around her vent and a little below is quite red. This happened before, several weeks ago, so I did the same thing I did then—trimmed the dirty feathers away (there was a little poop on them and her skin; it has been quite hot for several weeks and everyone has been drinking lots of water), sprayed her with Vetericyn, and this time dabbed on just a little Green Goo for animals, as the skin looked pretty tight and irritated. Some of the skin below, covered by feathers, looked a bit reddish as well.
For the time being, I've decided to isolate her in a pen in the garage. While she refused any treat the first time I looked at her, the second time, she wolfed the treats offered (Scratch & Peck Grower Mash whole grains) down, and when I put her into the pen, she did eat a fair amount.
It has been perhaps a week since she has given us an egg, but until this morning, her activity levels have been normal. My flock free-ranges half the day, get Purina all-flock, though we did give them half a frozen watermelon when it was extremely hot (amongst 35 birds, it seemed okay for them to share this treat) over the weekend. Clean water, clean coop, clean run. I did not feel an egg, and her crop felt all right, considering it was a couple hours after sunset and she may well have eaten already. No lesions in her mouth, nice red comb.
FWIW, the last time this happened, even without isolation and a few days of the topical treatment, Tabasco cleared or so and was totally fine. Does anyone know what might be causing this?
She did obligingly poop on the towel she was standing on during my inspection, so I've included a photo of that too.
up within maybe 48 hours
I saw no bugs or signs of bugs (all of her feathers otherwise look beautiful considering she's due to molt), no peck marks, no eggs laid on her by insects, but the area around her vent and a little below is quite red. This happened before, several weeks ago, so I did the same thing I did then—trimmed the dirty feathers away (there was a little poop on them and her skin; it has been quite hot for several weeks and everyone has been drinking lots of water), sprayed her with Vetericyn, and this time dabbed on just a little Green Goo for animals, as the skin looked pretty tight and irritated. Some of the skin below, covered by feathers, looked a bit reddish as well.
For the time being, I've decided to isolate her in a pen in the garage. While she refused any treat the first time I looked at her, the second time, she wolfed the treats offered (Scratch & Peck Grower Mash whole grains) down, and when I put her into the pen, she did eat a fair amount.
It has been perhaps a week since she has given us an egg, but until this morning, her activity levels have been normal. My flock free-ranges half the day, get Purina all-flock, though we did give them half a frozen watermelon when it was extremely hot (amongst 35 birds, it seemed okay for them to share this treat) over the weekend. Clean water, clean coop, clean run. I did not feel an egg, and her crop felt all right, considering it was a couple hours after sunset and she may well have eaten already. No lesions in her mouth, nice red comb.
FWIW, the last time this happened, even without isolation and a few days of the topical treatment, Tabasco cleared or so and was totally fine. Does anyone know what might be causing this?
She did obligingly poop on the towel she was standing on during my inspection, so I've included a photo of that too.
up within maybe 48 hours
