Silkie hen lost all pigment ... SKIN IS NOW WHITE. Photos!

The Accidental Coop

In the Brooder
11 Years
Jul 30, 2008
95
6
41
Central East Coast of Florida
Hello experts!

My silkie lost all her black/purple pigment following a bacterial infection.

Beginning December 2013, over a period of weeks, three of our hens developed bacterial infections. It hit one, then a week or so later another then another. Only one survived. Goldie...I was going to put the poor thing down but......I couldn't....Good thing!

Goldie survived the infection! But....She went blind! I hand fed her, then she then learned to listen for the food being poured into the feeder. She found the water. She began to eat and drinking on her own.

Her sight has come back...However her skin is white! Her waddles have turned to red and her ears are blue. But not the opalescent blue they were before. Her beak is pale also.

She seems perfectly healthy now other than the change in her appearance.

Anyone else have this happen?

This a video of her when she was broody in May 2012...Notice all her pretty color? (I trim her topknot because she free ranges)

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This is her now....No color!



Goldie is on the left eating grass.
 
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Wow, that is certainly an interesting change! I wonder why it happened? I'm glad Goldie recovered from her infection; she seems like a very pretty, brave little hen.
 
There is a pigment called melanin which creates the animals feather color and human skin color. If this pigment was to stop being made.They feathers will change to the color without the pigment. The melanocytes were damaged by the infection and this could become permanent. You now have an albino silky. Hope this helps
 
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