Uropygial (preening) gland issue with my rooster!?

[Meganblairbare]

What do I do? Is it an abscess? I was wondering why he was starting to look a little rough around the edges and just today when he got wet he bent over and I saw how abnormal his gland looked.. my poor poor baby... Anyone who knows what this looks like or what I can do to fix it, please help! Nothing on YouTube.. it seems to be painful for him as well.. help!

 

[Blue Raptor]

What do I do? Is it an abscess? I was wondering why he was starting to look a little rough around the edges and just today when he got wet he bent over and I saw how abnormal his gland looked.. my poor poor baby... Anyone who knows what this looks like or what I can do to fix it, please help! Nothing on YouTube.. it seems to be painful for him as well.. help!

Can you take a more focused picture? It may be mites or lice. Look for tiny bugs crawling on the surface of his skin, especially around the vent area. Sometimes dustly-looking feathers around the vent/preening gland area are mite/lice eggs.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

What do I do? Is it an abscess? I was wondering why he was starting to look a little rough around the edges and just today when he got wet he bent over and I saw how abnormal his gland looked.. my poor poor baby... Anyone who knows what this looks like or what I can do to fix it, please help! Nothing on YouTube.. it seems to be painful for him as well.. help!

A clearer photo of the oil gland and one of the whole rooster would be helpful.

You mention he's looking a little rough...how old is he?

From what I can see in the photo, I don't see anything alarming. Most bird Do Not like their preening gland messed with, it's one of those delicate areas. So it may not be painful, just don't appreciate the handling.

 

[Meganblairbare]

Can you take a more focused picture? It may be mites or lice. Look for tiny bugs crawling on the surface of his skin, especially around the vent area. Sometimes dustly-looking feathers around the vent/preening gland area are mite/lice eggs.

I haven't noticed any but I haven't been looking for them either really. I have slacked on dusting him lately.. Is it supposed to have like a hard knot under it? It's totally dry and kinda tough feeling. No oil comes out of it when I touch it and I notice he isn't utilizing it either.. he normally will preen all the time.. hes probably somewhere between 2 1/2 and 3 1/2? Just a guess though. I've had him for almost 2 years and when he showed up he only had nubs for spurs but he was already huge. He is extremely patient with me and he loves all kinds of lovin' so I'm pretty certain that it's painful to him. I have this photo, a better one, from earlier. And then another of how scraggly he looks lately. Although, we have been going for dips in the river recently because of the heat.. also, do you know what breed he is? He's feather footed and weights probably 8 lbs.. Thank you for your time.

 

[Meganblairbare]

A clearer photo of the oil gland and one of the whole rooster would be helpful.

You mention he's looking a little rough...how old is he?

From what I can see in the photo, I don't see anything alarming. Most bird Do Not like their preening gland messed with, it's one of those delicate areas. So it may not be painful, just don't appreciate the handling.

Hi.. I kinda answered you also in my reply to the other person who commented. Sorry.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I see it better now.
Probably impacted. You can try warm compresses to see if that helps loosen it up so you can express it.

 

[Blue Raptor]

I see it better now.
Probably impacted. You can try warm compresses to see if that helps loosen it up so you can express it.

how does it get impacted?

 

[Blue Raptor]

I haven't noticed any but I haven't been looking for them either really. I have slacked on dusting him lately.. Is it supposed to have like a hard knot under it? It's totally dry and kinda tough feeling. No oil comes out of it when I touch it and I notice he isn't utilizing it either.. he normally will preen all the time.. hes probably somewhere between 2 1/2 and 3 1/2? Just a guess though. I've had him for almost 2 years and when he showed up he only had nubs for spurs but he was already huge. He is extremely patient with me and he loves all kinds of lovin' so I'm pretty certain that it's painful to him. I have this photo, a better one, from earlier. And then another of how scraggly he looks lately. Although, we have been going for dips in the river recently because of the heat.. also, do you know what breed he is? He's feather footed and weights probably 8 lbs.. Thank you for your time.

I would think he has mites too from the looks of the area. Can you look for mites near the vent area?

 

[coach723]

Impactions can be caused by vitamin A deficiency's (high seed diets can cause this), and sometimes there can be tumor growth in the gland. Warm, wet compresses will often work to get the gland open and working again. More than that is usually best done with vet care, so if you can't resolve it with the compresses and very gentle massage, I would consider that. His feathers also may be rough looking as he should molt later this year. I often have birds that look pretty ratty in late summer to fall until they start (and finish) their annual molt.

 

[Meganblairbare]

*WARNING- butt shot! lol*

Thank you all so much for the info. I checked his bum and I don't see anything crawling around but it's kinda red and splotchy.

A little background: We are homeless and have been for a while. He just showed up one day and started "creeping" on us then got a taste for our dogs kibbles and moved himself on in. So, what I'm saying is, we have pretty a non traditional set up usually. We have had to move around a lot lately and even though he likes to stay close to me he still could be exposed to almost anything. I try to rake and dust the area before he gets too comfy in a new place but you never know... Plus we ended up taking in 2 little boys someone had dumped a couple months ago so idk if they could have brought anything in with them. I was and am still so afraid of that. I have so many questions should I start new threads for each one? Also we are in the middle of moving again and we just moved here last week so he could be stressed or something but he hasn't been dirt bathing this last week. I forgot to mention that before.. thanks for y'all's time. I really appreciate it