Scabbing/necrotic? tissue around rooster's vent. ***Gross images***

[PolyishPurposes]

Recently, we've had two chickens pass due to fly strike. The first was our neighbor's chicken who started sleeping in our coop. By the time we discovered it, it was far too late. The second was one of ours, who was raised as a chick with the rooster in question. We had no idea she had any issues until we saw blood on her feathers. She was eating and drinking fine.

The rooster is a 4.5 years old silkie. He's been a bit thin all his life, and doesn't look any different now as far as I can tell. He is eating, drinking, and behaving normally. Not lethargic. Poop has seemed normal when we scoop the coop, which we use wood shavings in. Food is organic egg-laying pellet feed, with some occasional treats like corn and dried black soldier fly larvae.

We noticed the damage/irritation yesterday when checking butts to avoid more fly strike. We still have a few to check, including one of our neighbor's other chickens that is sleeping in our coop tonight.

No active bleeding, but there was a missing circle of skin to the right of the vent that looked raw yesterday, and scabbed over today. It's a bit difficult to see in the images. I can try to get a better one of that circle specifically.

While we were cleaning him yesterday and today, the skin was sensitive and he reacted to the touch. We used a gentle stream of water while cleaning, with paper towel to gently wipe away what we could. The images show a bit of fresh poop that was cleaned off. The only thing remaining is the scab-looking skin on the top and sides.

An important note about the left-side scab: it feels like it's connected to a solid lump that goes about a quarter of an inch beneath the skin, maybe less. Both the scab and the lump were hard. This was found yesterday and wasn't investigated today. I'll try to take a look at it tomorrow.

After washing, we sprayed some vetericyn plus and used a small blow-dryer to fluff his feathers back up so the area wasn't so easily accessible. He seemed to enjoy that while he ate the corn

We would like to treat him ourselves if possible.

Thank you for any help. I tried my best to search the forums/internet for anything similar looking, but didn't find anything that was quite the same.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would make sure to wash any poo off his vent. Look for any maggots. If I were you I would get some permethrin ready to use spray from your feed store and spray his vent area. That should keep the flies off, and coat his scab with antibiotic ointment. Is he being pecked by other chickens around his vent? Fly strike occurs if there is a injury or cut to the skin or dried poop on them, and then flies lay eggs. It may help you to spray your coop with permethrin, pick up droppings and keep the bedding stirred. Sand can be good since you can sweep up droppings and scoop with a kitty litter scoop. A good buy is Gordons or Martins permethrin 10 concentrate in a pint or quart bottle, and mix it with water 1 tsp per quart of water 4tsp per gallon) in a spray bottle or garden sprayer to treat your coop, nests, and roosts. That lasts about a month and can help to control flies.

 

[PolyishPurposes]

Hello! Thanks so much for the response.

When cleaning him today we saw very, very, very small bugs scatter to the nearby feathers, and away from a new, small open wound. No running blood, just looked raw. We sprayed some vetericyn plus on it, as well as some quick blood stopper to cover it.

Some of the images I saw of mite infestations look similar to the feathers at the bottom of the images I attached last post, though I'm uncertain if they're just dirty. I'm wondering if they're the actual cause of the issue. I'm going to do some more research about mites and take care of those while making sure his butt is clean. Interestingly, I didn't see mites on any of the other chickens.

Still no maggots, so I'm glad about that. I'll be applying your suggestion to the coop tomorrow to make sure it stays that way while we figure this out and get him healed up. I'll be sure to pick up some ointment for him as well.

We haven't ever seen any of our chickens peck each other to injury, so I don't think anyone is pecking him. We watch them pretty often too, and haven't ever seen any of them do something like that.

Thanks again for all your help. Hoping things get better soon - I'll be sure to let you know if they do.