whats wrong with her? graphic pics

[comp-time]

I have 25 ten moth old Buff orpington layers. The have a nice large insulated indoor coop with heat, electricity, adequate food and water, an large outdoor run where they spend the daylight hours if the want and are treated to black oil sunflower seeds, bread, greens and melons when available. we live in western Indiana. this evening my wife went out to collect the eggs and put them in for the night and noticed one was injured. she ran in the house and got me. we applied hydrogen peroxide and treated the entire flock with water soluble antibiotic from the local feed store that I purchased for emergencies. we tend to our chickens regularly and friends joke about how well the chicks have it asking when the dish TV will be installed!!

anyway, the one has a large hole where her wing tip rests at her side and another couple have several feathers removed from the hind end. we took pictures, here they are:


the main concern

expanded view

another hen with plucked feathers

more feathers

sample flock

and i will throw in some more pics of the hens and house

 

[Wifezilla]

Do you have a roo??

 

[katrinag]

I would say that the back feathers missing is from a roo mating or a confused hen.

 

[chickensioux]

Many times when a chicken gets a small wound the others seem to hone in on it and tear it up. Isolate her until you can get it pretty well healed. They will keep picking at it. Povidone iodine is good and safe for poultry skin and I have had good results with quick healing. Hope this helps and good luck

 

[Schultz]

Aww ouchie! Sorry to see yours in this state. A roo might be necessary to get the girls under control if one of the hens has become the dominant "roo". They also may be low in protein or short on space and peck each other. I have heard that cat food treats can boost the protein. I haven't used it but maybe someone can be more helpful. Welcome

 

[comp-time]

no roo as far as I know. they all look the same and there is no spurs or crowing. This is our first flock. the most eggs we got in 1 day was 24 in the fall... idk if that matters but i don't think there is a rooster. thanks for the fas replies! how do i isolate her? will a dog crate work? do I leave it in the coop?

 

[katrinag]

Dog crate works just fine.

 

[ruth]

Hi and welcome to BYC. From the pics and the description it looks like you have the start of cannibalism. It's when they start picking at one another's feathers and then start eating one another alive. Many theories on what causes it but most believe it's a protein deficiency and/or overcrowding and boredom. Those who have free range chickens don't normally have cannibalism issues. While they have a nice run, they have no trees, bushes or anything to get under or dig under or dig up or the ability to find any bugs. You can try putting in a layer of hay and throw the seeds on the ground so they have to dig and peck to find them. Others have hung cabbages for them to peck at. Basically, they need something to do and probably more space than what I see in the pics.

 

[CTChickenMom]

The top picture looks like an abscess...could she have gotten stuck on something? The other pics of the missing tail feathers look like something reached through the fence and tried grabbing a chicken from the fanny. Without trying to imply anything, do young children have access to the coop/run? My son, who is six, mentioned just tonight that he was going to try picking ours up by the tail. (To which I said NOOOOO!!

) What about mites? Would they do that kind of destruction?

 

[comp-time]

the picture of the run is about 1/4 of the run. they have about 15 square feet per bird in the outdoor run. inside they have 5 sqft per bird. the last 2 times i changed pine bedding, i threw it in the run to cut down on the mud. I will get some seeds to throw out there for them to peck. what type should I get? when I give them the sunflower seeds the by the pound, the are gone within minutes!! maybe i could rake them under??