Rooster with dry red vent, no bugs

[VictoriaTemple]

Hi folks, need help with my 1 1/2 year old Easter Egger roo please. Did a routine butt check today and discovered his vent is dry, red, and inflamed. No evidence of lice or any other parasites. Plenty of fluffy feathers except right at the vent, where he is clearly picking at them. His behavior is completely normal, he eats, mates, crows, runs from my Jersey Giant rooster, and aside from some recent minor comb injuries from the big roo, he has no other symptoms at all. He smells fine too. Unknown what his feces is like, I have not yet isolated him. Can anyone tell me what's going on? Thanks!

 

[Chickassan]

Hey! Is it a little flakey?
I'm betting it is dermatitis, from a slight change in the Ph.of his "buisness".
The boys here get itchy butts in spring and right before fall.
Hydrocortisone cream on and around the money maker should clear it up.

 

[Ebony Rose]

Hens will also pick the feathers of roosters, so it is possible that he's being hen pecked. I'd give him a spritz of blu-kote to disguise the redness and see if that settles the problem.

 

[VictoriaTemple]

I hope that's all it is. My soil is acidic, and he eats a lot of acid-loving weeds. Maybe it threw the Ph off.

He isn't hen-pecked, he's actually well liked. I have seen one or two hens gently grooming his head, which I thought was a little weird. He has a spot on the back of his head that looks so much like male pattern baldness I have to laugh. Checked repeatedly for lice, none. I don't know if he enjoys their attention, but he bows his head willingly and let's them do it.

 

[Ebony Rose]

A rooster will behave the same way when the girls are grooming his other end... just saying...

 

[VictoriaTemple]

A rooster will behave the same way when the girls are grooming his other end... just saying...

LOL! I guess you're right. Haven't seen them doing it, but they are together in the coop all night.

 

[Chickassan]

Cream his fanny, he's doomed right now.
The season has them goofy, more lactic acid due to molt and the push to breed before winter hitting at once. Brains are gone and poop is caustic.
Keep an eye on him, the hens will groom him slick and he's too in his own world to even care.
Normally they'll move when enough is enough, but now nah.....