I've got a few Rhodies which have been relatively healthy (serious mites which after dusting disappeared) for the last ten years. Recently, a couple of them have developed bare feather shafts around the vent area (2-3 inch diameter area) and some collected scat. I see no inflammation of the skin or vent lips. It's fall and they have almost completed their molt but I have not seen this condition previously, either during molt or other times. I dust them now routinely in the Spring and have had no reappearance of the red, completely bare areas (particluarly the neck) I had seen previously from (presumably) the mites. We have a new (here ~4 weeks) Husky pup who we discovered today has a mature round worm infestation (vet gave us 'Strongid T') although I think it is unlikely the pup got the worms from the chickens. The feather issue predates the pup. I just want to be complete. The chickens get cracked corn mixed with 'poultry crumbles' every morning, ad lib, free range through the day, and, recently since this condition presented, a can of catfood shared every couple of days which they seem to like. They also have a little of the spinach (Costco, fresh) that I put out for the ducks every couple of days although not so interested. My question is: Has anyone seen this condition and knows what it is? With the mites, the shafts and all were affected down to stubs. Here the shafts are intact but bare. I'm thinking it might be some sort of worm. I have dewormed them before (last Spring) but neither they nor I like sticking that tube down their throats (to prevent aspiration), so unless I'm more certain than I am now that it is worms, I'd like to hold off the deworming. It's almost certainly not picking nor rodents (which I've had but never saw effects on the chickens but definitely effects on the rodents who got too close). Old John, the rooster, is almost blind from cataracts (he still has a little clear area in his left eye) so I have to roost him in a separate cage each night so he knows where his food and water bowl are. Otherwise he has difficulty eating. Anyway, any informationwould be more than I have now.
I had John's father (Big John) into a somewhat haughty 'parrot' vet (after insisting) a few years ago and she looked at him like she didn't know what he was. The vet we go to for our Huskies was willing to see one of the ducks who was somewhat listless last year but I really had no more confidence there having to demonstrate how to towel wrap the bird to keep it comfortably quiet and also KA-CHING, big time, for very little enlightenment.
Help!
Bill Bjornson
Aloha, Oregon
P.S. I have been using the internet since ca. 1994 but rarely use message boards and can't seem to discover the way here to start a new topic. My apologies if I am off-topic here but I was at least able to post.