Bare belly, redness & crusty feathers

[ChickenTenderz]

I have a 1 yr old rhode island red hen that has lost the feathers on her belly, the skin is red and the feathers look crusty. I checked her and did not see any mites or other bugs. I checked our other girls and it is just her. She acts normal, eats, drinks, perches at night and still laying eggs everyday.
Any idea what it could be?

 

[Eggcessive]

Does the greenish area look the same in person? That could be green bruising. Have you seen her pecking herself or have others been pecking her feathers? Are they overcrowded? What do you feed them?

 

[ChickenTenderz]

Does the greenish area look the same in person? That could be green bruising. Have you seen her pecking herself or have others been pecking her feathers? Are they overcrowded? What do you feed them?

It doesn't look green in person. She is the leader of the flock (no roosters)
Nobody pecks her that I have seen. They have a spacious coop and run plus they free range daily. I feed them Dumor layer feed.

 

[Eggcessive]

What type of bedding do you have? She just looks so red and itchy that I would be tempted to give her a warm soak tomorrow. Could she be starting to molt?

 

[ChickenTenderz]

We have pine shavings in the coop, which is what I'veused since we got them as chicks. She just turned 1 yr old early April, could she be starting to molt? I thought that would be closer to 18 months?

 

[Eggcessive]

Well, I am pretty stumped. There has to be something damp or muddy, or something else she is lying in to get her feathers and skin that way. I had a hen who laid a soft egg in her nest box almost every day, due to an injury from a dog. Her egg would be broken, and her nest box was icky. I had to clean it daily and spray it out so mold and maggots would not get on the mess. She would get the egg gunk on her belly while sitting in the nest.

 

[ChickenTenderz]

I do have another hen that has been laying a soft egg. I've been giving her calcium tablets to gel with that but her egg usually get crushed in the nesting box. Could this hen sitting on a crushed egg cause her feathers to come out and have the redness? I clean out the nesting boxes everyday to get the crushed egg out.

 

[BelovedBirds]

I have a 1 yr old rhode island red hen that has lost the feathers on her belly, the skin is red and the feathers look crusty. I checked her and did not see any mites or other bugs. I checked our other girls and it is just her. She acts normal, eats, drinks, perches at night and still laying eggs everyday.
Any idea what it could be?

The crusty feathers make me think perhaps she's been lying on damp dirty bedding, ammonia can burn feathers off

If it isn't the environment, it could be dietary or feather picking....

 

[Eggcessive]

It could be that. Hard to know without investigating. I would just give her a warm soak with soapy water and then rinse her, to get her cleaned up. Look closely for any lice under her vent. Then watch her behavior for a few days to see if she is lying in a spot where she is getting wet.

 

[ChickenTenderz]

Well, I am pretty stumped. There has to be something damp or muddy, or something else she is lying in to get her feathers and skin that way. I had a hen who laid a soft egg in her nest box almost every day, due to an injury from a dog. Her egg would be broken, and her nest box was icky. I had to clean it daily and spray it out so mold and maggots would not get on the mess. She would get the egg gunk on her belly while sitting in the nest.

Maybe it is from sitting in the nesting box on a crushed egg. But you definitely don't see signs of mites or lice right? Weird to me that it is only her and not the other three.