Red rash on belly

[leetfreq925]

I have a golden comet that I happened to grab out of my garden bed yesterday and noticed she has a big red rash over one half of her belly with some feathers missing. Is this a sign of anything? She is acting perfectly fine and getting into trouble as usual. Maybe she angered the wrong bee or dug in the wrong ant hill? Anyone ever seen this?

 

[Wyandottes7]

Is it possible that she has been broody (sitting on eggs)? This would cause her to tear some of her feathers out. Just as likely, she might have mites or lice. Check near her vent, under her wings, and beneath her back and neck feathers, and see if you spot any small moving specks. Mites and lice irritate the skin, and can cause feather loss. Treat them with Sevin powder, or a mite spray like Poutry Protector.

Another possibility is that she has been rubbing her belly against something. I know that when my Columbian Wyandotte dust bathes a lot in wood shavings, she breaks some of her breast feathers. Your's might be doing something similar.

Or, she could be molting. How old is she? This doesn't seem to be as likely though, as chickens molt their head feathers first (the order is head, neck, back, breast, stern, thighs, wings, tail), and you would probably have noticed that.

Other chickens could be picking on her, but I think that this is the least likely reason of all. Normally, chickens peck at the back, neck, and head, not the belly.

Hope I've helped!

 

[leetfreq925]

Hm. lots of options here. Let's see - I don't believe she's broody, as every time i see her, she's running around like a nut. I hardly see her in the box, except when she is definitely laying because I find the egg after she bolts out of there to go eat.
I think I would notice if it were an infestation, right? I did look through her feathers and see nothing. She eats tons, she never really scratches, so I would think I would see some other effects of lice/mites?
I think you hit it with the dusting. She is a devious little thing and gets into everything. I find her under pine trees, in the middle of ferns, and on top of my rose bushes, so perhaps she is just irritated from the wrong encounter there. It is about molting time for her (she was hatched april of 2012) but all other feathers are in tact, so this would be a weird pattern.
I'll keep an eye on her and hope it goes down in the next couple days. She'll make it go away to avoid me picking her up again, the little rascal...
Thanks for all the help, Wyandottes7, and least it's not an apparent illness and more likely just her being her crazy self. You can see how much she likes to get dirty.