What the heck is this??!!!! (pictures)

[tcbosco1]

I noticed that one of my hens had been picking at her feathers on her lower back (see pic below):

and when I dug through her feathers, this is what I found:

It is hard and looks like a little flesh colored horn with tiny feathers sprouting out of the top. The redness is from me poking at it. What is it? Ingrown feathers, perhaps??!!!

What do I do?!

 

[Katy]

It's the oil gland that they use to keep their feathers in shape. Leave it alone.

 

[tcbosco1]

Thanks! I never noticed it before.

It does seem as if it's bothering the chicken, though, as she has picked at all her feathers in the area...

 

[krcote]

Quote:
The gland is not bothering the chicken, it just happens to be where they start pulling out feathers when they are bored.

 

[Katy]

The pictures don't look like her feathers are picked. They "pick" at it to groom the oil onto all their feathers. Is she with a rooster? If you think her feathers look rough (which it doesn't appear from the pictures to be the case) it's probably rooster damage.

 

[tcbosco1]

She is not in contact with a rooster. I do believe that her picked feathers are self-inflicted. She's not bloody, and the feathers aren't pulled out, they're just, well, picked at. It's hard to see in the picture, but it appears as if all the top/exterior parts of her back feathers have been pulled out, exposing the downy kind of feathers underneath.

I guess then answer is to not worry about it!

I just had another hen get over a bout with sour crop, so I think I'm over-scrutinizing my girls. I think I need to let them just be chickens!! : )