Skin infection on Buff?

[amyklink]

We noticed our buff was losing feathers.
When we flipped her over, we saw that all the feathers on her abdomen were gone and she had a half inch abscess (see photo). Skin is read.

She is not bloated and it does not appear that she has water belly.

Could this be thrush?

 

[azygous]

It could be vent gleet. It's caused by a fungus (thrush). The white lesion appears to be a skin infection, maybe staph which enters the skin through an abrasion or cut. Do you notice a foul odor?

That leads me to ask about your roosting perches. Could your perches be causing this? Are they rough, dirty, too small or too large? Have you gone out at night to examine the perches and chickens for mites?

Treatment. First, soak her underparts in Epsom salt to get rid of all the feces and dirt. Spray with Vetericyn, let dry, then dab the lesion and the skin around the vent with Blu-kote. It's an anti-fungal as well as antibiotic. It can't hurt to paint the entire bald area with Blu-kote. I would do this every couple or three days until it clears up. Also, probiotics might help if there's fungus in her digestive track.

If you see no improvement, you may need to consider an oral anti-fungal.