Woah - VERY large round scab on neck!

[Sunshine Flock]

I've been learning that scabs are an important part of the healing process. They protect the skin underneath from infection. Epsom salt baths can significantly speed up healing and dry the scabs and cause them to peel off naturally. So I would saturate the neck during a daily bath and give the scabbing some time to loosen by itself.

What were the symptoms of mites in your other hen? Was there scabbing or crusty skin anywhere on her body? Did you treat the chicken coop or the other hens?

The scabbing on your hen's neck could be something else, but for now all I can suggest epsom salts to soother her and help soften the scabs and heal her skin. I'm just wondering if mites are always seen when they're the ones causing the scaly scabs.

@Hen Pen Jem ... have you dealt with mites before or tumors on your chickens?

 

[Lady of McCamley]

A scab is on the surface on the skin.

A tumor is below the skin. It feels like a golf ball underneath. If it moves freely, it is less likely to be cancerous. If it is attached, like the golf ball is anchored, it is often cancerous.

But from you recent description, it sounds like a thick surface scab possibly from feather mites.

Epsom salt soak will help to clean and heal.

I would also treat for mites. The scab could be from picking to get rid of mites...although its location suggests picking from another bird.

If it continues to grow after treatment, further investigation is warranted.

LofMc

 

[Eggcessive]

If another has mites, she probably does as well. Permethrin 10% spray or garden dust is available at most feed stores, and is safe for treatment of mites. Use on the chickens and treat coop, nest boxes every 7 days at least twice to get mites and newly hatched eggs. Discard and replace bedding in coop and nests after treating the coop.

I would try a wet compress on the scabbed area, and some coconut oil on it to try and soften the scab to see if it heals. If it is a tumor, it will get larger.

 

[Sunshine Flock]

If another has mites, she probably does as well. Permethrin 10% spray or garden dust is available at most feed stores, and is safe for treatment of mites. Use on the chickens and treat coop, nest boxes every 7 days at least twice to get mites and newly hatched eggs. Discard and replace bedding in coop and nests after treating the coop.

I would try a wet compress on the scabbed area, and some coconut oil on it to try and soften the scab to see if it heals. If it is a tumor, it will get larger.

Coconut oil, great suggestion!

 

[CocosGirls]

If another has mites, she probably does as well. Permethrin 10% spray or garden dust is available at most feed stores, and is safe for treatment of mites. Use on the chickens and treat coop, nest boxes every 7 days at least twice to get mites and newly hatched eggs. Discard and replace bedding in coop and nests after treating the coop.

I would try a wet compress on the scabbed area, and some coconut oil on it to try and soften the scab to see if it heals. If it is a tumor, it will get larger.

Thank you! I will give this a try!

 

[CocosGirls]

A scab is on the surface on the skin.

A tumor is below the skin. It feels like a golf ball underneath. If it moves freely, it is less likely to be cancerous. If it is attached, like the golf ball is anchored, it is often cancerous.

But from you recent description, it sounds like a thick surface scab possibly from feather mites.

Epsom salt soak will help to clean and heal.

I would also treat for mites. The scab could be from picking to get rid of mites...although its location suggests picking from another bird.

If it continues to grow after treatment, further investigation is warranted.

LofMc

I will get her soaking now. Thank you!!!

 

[CocosGirls]

I've been learning that scabs are an important part of the healing process. They protect the skin underneath from infection. Epsom salt baths can significantly speed up healing and dry the scabs and cause them to peel off naturally. So I would saturate the neck during a daily bath and give the scabbing some time to loosen by itself.

What were the symptoms of mites in your other hen? Was there scabbing or crusty skin anywhere on her body? Did you treat the chicken coop or the other hens?

The scabbing on your hen's neck could be something else, but for now all I can suggest epsom salts to soother her and help soften the scabs and heal her skin. I'm just wondering if mites are always seen when they're the ones causing the scaly scabs.

@Hen Pen Jem ... have you dealt with mites before or tumors on your chickens?

I have the other girl with mites isolated and treated her. She has a few teeney scabs but nothing else, really. I sprinkled dichimaceous earth around the coop and am monitoring the other girls and all seems to be OK, but it's hard to tell with mites being so small. I love the Epsom salt bath idea. I think she'll love it, too.

 

[Eggcessive]

DE can be harmful to chicken’s respiratory system, and it will not treat an outbreak of mites. Mites such blood and can cause anemia and death in bad cases. I would use permethrin unless you keep bees. It is very safe for chickens. Elector PSP or products containing spinosad is another safe treatment. You may want to Google “lice and mites in poultry,” and have a look at TheChickenChick’s link for more info.

 

[JovialJoy]

Hi, I'm new to the community. I've lurked on Backyard Chickens for a few years, and have gathered a lot of information, but I finally had to join when I saw this [relatively] recent post. And that's because we just addressed the same problem today ... and for the third time!

It was on one of our roosters that I first noticed one of these black, scaly "scabs." I picked him up, and felt something poking out of his chest. When I moved the feathers away, I saw this black protrusion of crusted matter, which had a radius of about half an inch, and it felt like it went under the skin. The edges of the "scab," however, felt loose and it didn't seem like the thing was attached underneath the skin either ... instead, it seemed like it was just buried in there. I assumed it was an ingrown feather.

Call me crazy, but I pulled it out! I got a little nervous when the matter seemed to get wider than the hole from which I was pulling it. The rooster, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind. So I finished pulling it out, and that was it! No blood. The rooster was fine and went on his merry way. And that was about eight months ago.

The matter, once out of his body, almost looked like a piece of cooked chicken with a rotten, black spot on it.

On the second chicken, the spot was also smallish--but directly in her ear! I pulled it out too, but there was a lot of fibrous pus type stuff I had to clean out separately. Again, the chicken seemed fine.

Recently, this third chicken started to limp. And the primary caregivers (my husband and father-in-law) of our chickens couldn't figure out what the problem was. (In our family, my "role" has become the chick-raiser, chicken doctor, and wound care specialist.) They told me she had some matted feathers, but couldn't find anything physically wrong with her foot or leg. So I took a look at her, moved the feathers away, and there was one of those black, scaly "scabs," and it was huge--this one had a radius of about two inches! As with the other chickens, I pulled it out. Again, it looked like a piece of cooked chicken with a giant rotten spot on it. And it stunk!

We hope that we can save Big Bird, but we might have to euthanize her. The bulk of this "scab" was just under her skin, and left a gaping hole, but it went deeper than the ones I've found before. There was another layer of infection (?) beneath the primary "scab," a hole that seems to go deep into her thigh muscle--and perhaps down to the bone. Even with this one, there was no bleeding, but I had cut the feathers around the area and perform wound care.

I'm disappointed because if I'd found this earlier, and removed it then, it would have spared her a lot of pain and discomfort.

Unfortunately, I still have no idea what this is. And I'm sorry I can't help you out with that, but I thought my experience might be beneficial in some way.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

welcome to BYC sounds like bumble foot which is a staph infection and contagious even to humans