Skin rot on chickens

[Beez]

Our chicken has a nasty skin disorder. Dry, rotted, hot flesh around legs & under wings.

Can someone help diagnose/resolve the problem? Fly strike? Warning!! Graphic photo. This is heartbreaking.

 

[coach723]

That looks like an injury of some kind, hard to say what, and the skin has been torn away. It doesn't look real fresh. Does it have any bad odor? I would clean/flush it well with some diluted betadine or chlorhexidine (hibiclens) and then apply plain neosporin or plain triple antibiotic ointment to it 2-3 times a day to keep it covered with ointment. If there is any bad smell then an oral antibiotic, or injectable might be called for. Is vet care an option? If it is not then you can get fish antibiotics online to give orally or injectable penicillin G procaine at Tractor Supply or some feed stores, if you are in the US, in most states.
If there is no infection then it has a good chance of healing, but it will take some time. You will need to make sure other birds don't peck at it, or flies can get to it and cause flystrike.
I can't tell exactly where it's located, but do you have a rooster? Injuries under the wings are sometimes caused by the rooster claws or spurs when mounting.

 

[Beez]

thank you coach723!! We will for sure start building up our home vet supplies. We're also going to deploy a critter cam to see if small predators are getting in the coop somehow. I don't know if we can save this hen because upon further inspection - it is really bad. Our roos don't yet have spurs but they do bite the hen's backs & claw them with their toe nails (talons?). p.s. I am not a fan of rooster behavior I hear it takes 13 hens per rooster to "keep the peace"......um, what???

 

[ChickenFriends234]

That is so hard to watch

 

[coach723]

They can recover from some pretty awful injuries given time and support, but that is your call based on what you are seeing and how much time you are willing/able to give her. 10 -12 hens per roo is a good starting point, that number can vary depending on the rooster itself and his temperament and personality. Not having enough hens results in ratty looking, or injured hens. A cockerel (a male less than a year old) is a rude, clumsy, inconsiderate oaf most of the time, whose hormones rule his behavior. Some mature roosters can be a joy to have, some not so much. You may need to separate the cockerels if they are hurting the hens, let them mature where they can't do any harm. If you don't want to hatch your own eggs, or plan to range the hens where a rooster may provide a bit of early warning system, then no need to put up with any of them if you don't want to. I actually rather enjoy my roo's, but I only keep the best ones.

 

[Beez]

we were able to get the young roos into their own chicken tractor so we hope the hens will do better. Last night I went out to see how the hens were doing and some were piled onto one another in a corner of the coop. It is a chain link fence. Now I am wondering if the girls got smashed and rubbed on the fence too hard. It is really heartbreaking not to know how to prevent this. We have roosts for them but some just seem to want to be piled - it isn't even cold here. I really appreciate your feedback because I have soooo much to learn. You gave me a little hope that some of our roos will chill out a bit as they age and as we sort out the ratio.

 

[Ladies-Eight]

To get my chickens to roost I had to be there every evening to make sure they were up on the roost. Then I would close the coop door and lock them in for the night.

This took about three weeks total. Now I leave the coop door open and they are up on the roosts as they should be.

I just had to show them who was the boss.

 

[coach723]

Can you post some pictures of your set up @Beez? If they are all piling up in a corner they either may not know where they are actually supposed to go and need to be shown, or there may be another reason they are feeling uncomfortable about it.

 

[Beez]

wow, this is helpful. Thank you!!!

 

[Beez]

@coach723 sort of hard to photo but here's a pano of the inside & one from outside. There are 20 hens.

We need to build another roost since we stole one to put over with the boys in the tractor. Just found another hen with a wound under her leg. I say wound but it seems more like they are getting an infection. Gah, this is killing me. Can they get mites or something from being on the ground? I cleaned the coop & dusted everything with diatomaceous earth but unsure what is happening. I think the roos made the hens not want to roost. That issue is solved & I'll work with the hens at night to get them roosting. But I'm scared they have something contagious.