Rooster feathers

[MintySeaSalt]

So my speckled Sussex rooster has always had these feathers on either side of his face that never seem to grow in. I don't think it's anything serious but I wanted to know if there was anything I could do to fix it because they seem uncomfortable at the least. At first I thought they may have been ingrown feathers but after I looked up examples of that it didn't seems similar.

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. That looks interesting. The area on either side of his neck do not look normal. Are ther any growths visible or felt on the skin? I don't know if those could be feather cysts from ingrown feathers, or possible some type of tumor or infection, but it definitely needs some attention. I have seen a few pictures of irritated feathered feet here online that look very red and similar. I would have a good look for any evidence of lice or mites that could cause the irritation.
Here is a picture by Kazzy of an ingrown feather which can lead to a cyst:

And another picture which can look like a tumor or feather cyst:

 

[MintySeaSalt]

Nope, the skin doesn't seem too have any growths at all. It just seems like there are many feathers trying to grow out of the same spot at one time? They've never actually grown out at any point in his life, just always looked similar to that. We took him to a vet a year ago because he was breathing heavily (he ended up just having a bit of a cold) and when asked out his feathers, she told us they were just growing slow and would eventually look like normal, but they never did. Also, If it were some sort of growth I don't see why or how it could be in the same spot on both sides of his face :/ from what I've managed to find on problems with chickens and their feathers I haven't been able to find anything that looks similar to what ever this may be thus far.

 

[mommissan]

Hey- Just wanted to let you know you're not alone. It's been a year with no answer? Here's what I can share. My rooster has had this since I adopted him more than a year ago. I also adopted a number of other birds from that same flock. This past spring he started some rattling- a bit of a "cold" then it just went away, but the feathers on his neck just get progressively worse, now covering most of his neck in these ingrown feathers, where there are 3, four, as many as five, six feathers that unsuccessfully erupted. A hen from the same flock mid summer this year grew a ascite. She has this large squishy cyst like grown in her abdomen that her previous owner recommended I drain with a large hypodermic needle. I have had some wrinkled and some shell-less eggs all summer and a number of birds were mildly sluggish and there was some sneezing. Nothing spectacular, but the deformed eggs are a pain. I believe all these symptoms are indicative of Infectious Bronchitis. I'm open to other suggestions if anyone is listening. What I'm curious about is how your rooster is doing now and the rest of your flock as well?