Skin patch (?)

[thecrazychickenlady]

Found this weird patch on my chicken's skin, does anyone know what this is? It has this soft plastic feel to it as it's not soft like regular skin.

 

[sourland]

Do you/did you have a rooster ? Just a guess, but it almost looks like healed rooster damage.

 

[thecrazychickenlady]

I don't have a rooster actually, it's illegal to own one in my state.

 

[coach723]

Where is that on the birds body?

 

[thecrazychickenlady]

Where is that on the birds body?

On the underside, along the breastbone

 

[coach723]

Then probably a breast blister or one in the making. Check her for any foot issues like bumblefoot that may make her roost improperly, resting her keel on the roost, assuming she roosts normally? Some birds can develop it also if they are not roosting but instead bedding down on the ground or in wet/damp/dirty bedding. It causes rubbing and irritation and can result in a breast blister which is kind of like bumblefoot on the breast. Sometimes heavy birds will rest on the roosts due to their weight. Sometimes adding padding to the roost they use can help, just make sure it's something they can't peck pieces off of and eat. And old towel can work. Clean off that area with some betadine or chlorhexidine and apply plain neosporin or plain triple antibiotic ointment a couple of times a day and see if that will help clear it up. May take some time, particularly if the irritation continues. If she is not roosting then I would try to figure out why and remedy that.
This link has some graphic pictures of a pretty bad breast blister (you can search 'breast blister' or 'bumblebreast' for more info):
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/bumble-breast-breast-blister-graphic-pictures.1096276/

 

[thecrazychickenlady]

Thank you! I will try that and see if it will clear up. She's also molting right now, so there's not a lot of feathers covering her underside right now.