Should I Give Up?

[Redschickens]

hello again friends,

Awhile ago I had posted on my jersey giant whose butt was red as can be and looking for suggestions on what it might be or what to do. It was really helpful. Since then I have given epsom salt baths, used blue kote (3 rounds), used poultry dust and cleaned our coop out and sprayed it immaculately. I’ve upped her protein and stopped feeding people food. None of my other birds are having this issue and I still cannot get her butt to heal. I’m going to ask some dumb questions about some things I’ve considered:
-how long do feathers take to grow back? Especially her tail feathers, an area that seems to get balder by the day. Is it a slow process?
-is it possible she has anxiety and picks her own self?
-is it a lost cause to try to heal this? She is acting totally fine: eating drinking and laying.

Thank you as always for your help and suggestions. I appreciate you all!

 

[PirateGirl]

When you say used poultry dust, what is the active ingredient?
When you say sprayed the coop, what did you spray with?
Have you looked by flashlight at night for signs of mites/lice?
Sorry if these questions are repetitive, I did not see your original post when you started with this whole issue.

 

[Redschickens]

When you say used poultry dust, what is the active ingredient?
When you say sprayed the coop, what did you spray with?
Have you looked by flashlight at night for signs of mites/lice?
Sorry if these questions are repetitive, I did not see your original post when you started with this whole issue.

Permethrin is the main ingredient in both the spray and powder and we also put the spray directly on her. I have not gone at nighttime with a flashlight, but if it was lice/mites that I would have expected at least one of my others to have it (we had 9, now 8). Maybe that is incorrect thinking...I’ve only been at this a year...

 

[coach723]

Often times feathers don't grow back until the next molt. How old is the bird?
I also did not see your original thread, so also sorry if this is ground already covered, but have you considered feather picking by another bird or birds? Over crowding and boredom can cause this, and the skin that is exposed to sun will turn red like that, which will attract more pecking. Sometimes it happens on the roosts at night, and changing the layout or spacing of roosts may help. And for the mite issue, when you treat with permethrin it needs to be repeated at least 3 times at 7 day intervals in order to kill the bugs and to get any eggs that hatch after. Here are a couple of links that may help you, again, apologies if this is already covered ground for you:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/chicken-feather-loss-cannibalism-causes/

 

[Redschickens]

Often times feathers don't grow back until the next molt. How old is the bird?
I also did not see your original thread, so also sorry if this is ground already covered, but have you considered feather picking by another bird or birds? Over crowding and boredom can cause this, and the skin that is exposed to sun will turn red like that, which will attract more pecking. Sometimes it happens on the roosts at night, and changing the layout or spacing of roosts may help. And for the mite issue, when you treat with permethrin it needs to be repeated at least 3 times at 7 day intervals in order to kill the bugs and to get any eggs that hatch after. Here are a couple of links that may help you, again, apologies if this is already covered ground for you:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/chicken-feather-loss-cannibalism-causes/

I have wondered about feather picking. I was told to spray with the blue kote to get rid of the red so they’d be less inclined to peck her if that was the case. My only “bully” chicken is my leghorn who rules the roost despite being the smallest chicken in the flock. Our coop is pretty large and they all tend to huddle at nighttime. Our roosts are not moveable; is that suggestion something most people do at intervals? And I didn’t know about feather growth so thank you for that nugget of info. She’s just a year old at this point. Do I treat her again with the dust and keep her blue? Im stumped.

 

[PirateGirl]

The permetherin spray and dust will certainly kill off any mites/lice if that's the issue. As others mentioned, unfortunately, feathers can take a long time to grow back once they are gone. Her skin just looks so red and angry; it can't feel good. If you have already sprayed the coop and bird and repeated at one week intervals a few times I would not re-treat for lice/mites. If it was my girl I would probably make sure she was getting 18%-20% protein in her food (feathers are mostly protein so more protein will help with new growth and feather condition, also if all of them are getting plenty of protein they may be less prone to feather picking in general). I would probably separate her for awhile where she can still see the other birds. I'd put witch hazel in a spray bottle and spritz her down twice a day, it's natural, safe for birds and can be soothing to the skin, and cut out all the other chemicals for the time being. (I'm not opposed to the chemicals per se, I'm going to douse my own coop with permetherin again tonight). I'd also give her access to a good dust bath, just loose dirt, maybe with some wood ash mixed in if you have it, nothing fancy, but itchy birds like to dust bathe. I'd give it a week and see if her skin still looks as red and inflamed. I'd just scale back all the treatments and keep it simple and see if it can improve on its own. Think how when you have dry skin in the winter how certain things might make your hands feel like they burn even if it's lotion or soap or something you are used it. Sometimes less is more. Hopefully without anyone to pick on her and without an irritants to her skin, it will settle down. I wouldn't expect new feathers soon, but if you can get the skin back to a normal color, you will know you are on the right track.

 

[Redschickens]

If I could “love”this I would. Thank you so much for taking the time to share these thoughts. I will try the witch hazel and some “her alone” time and hopefully the redness will go down. I know that is the part that concerns me too. It’s better than before if you can believe that. Thank you again

 

[PirateGirl]

I hope it can settle down too. I know when my face is breaking out and I try every cleanser and cream on the planet to "fix" the problem I just make it worse. Maybe at this point she is just raw and irritated and needs to be let be if you have already tried a bunch of things. Good luck. Definitely let us know on BYC if things continue to get worse.