Yellow gunk on head - help!

[Miriahbrown]

Can someone help me figure out what this is? Our sweet Susan looked normal yesterday, but my daughter let the chickens out after church today and Susan's head looked wet and lacking in some feathers, with this yellow stuff all around her head. I thought it could be pollen at first, but I don't think it is. We poured warm water on her head and wiped most all of it off, though there still seems to be a little yellow tinged residue at the base of some feathers..we sprayed her head with Vetericyn and are keeping an eye on her. could it be some type of puss or something from feather follicles?

Some pics show the yellow stuff and some show what she looked like post wash

 

[LaFleche]

Looks like egg yolk to me.
Check the nest boxes for any residues and clean them out.

 

[Eggcessive]

I second that, it looks like egg yolk. Maybe someone laid a thin or soft shell egg, and they ate it.

 

[NanaK]

Susan's head looked wet and lacking in some feathers, with this yellow stuff all around her head.

Agree looks like egg yolk. One of the other hens may have tried to pick some off and pulled a few feathers in the process.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I agree, they have picking dried egg off of her LOL

I'd try washing her a bit more before putting her back with her flock, then other hens will pluck her bald trying to get the rest of the egg out of her feathers.

 

[Miriahbrown]

Looks like egg yolk to me.
Check the nest boxes for any residues and clean them out.

Hm. The nest boxes are clean with no residue and no dampness - so it couldn't have been from there. We have had a few eggs break (or be eaten) and it leaves the bottom of the boxes wet. Maybe one laid an egg in the run that has happened once before, but we found it in there.

I don't like the idea of an egg being eaten - but I'll take that over an illness!

Thank you everyone for your comments!

 

[Miriahbrown]

Agree looks like egg yolk. One of the other hens may have tried to pick some off and pulled a few feathers in the process.

Ouch. That would make sense if it's egg on her.

 

[Miriahbrown]

I agree, they have picking dried egg off of her LOL

I'd try washing her a bit more before putting her back with her flock, then other hens will pluck her bald trying to get the rest of the egg out of her feathers.

They are all roaming a large area now and she is being treated normally, but I'll check and re-wash before tucking then into their enclosed run so nobody tries to pick anything off her when they're confined to close quarters. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Eggcessive]

That has happened to my hens. They will clean up every bit and the shell too. We had one who had been injured by a neighbor’s dog, and her eggs later became all thin-shelled. They would all line up waiting for her to finish laying her egg every day, so they could eat it. Then she learned she could get it first, LOL. It didn’t make any of them bother the normal hard shell eggs though.