Bald spot on hens butt is now bleeding...?

[aishilemon]

This is Rocky. She is a barred plymouth rock hen.


I have five hens, however Rocky is the highest in the pecking order and always has been, I have never seen another hen try to peck at her. When I got her a year ago her bald spot was there, but it was no where near as big as it is now. After six months her bald spot finally filled up the area leaving only a small section of feathers between her anus and this spot (it has not grown since).
This bald spot has always been more protruding on her body... If almost feels like silicone! None of the other hens have bald spots, only her (I'm assuming maybe its more common in her breed?). She has never shown symptoms of anything so I left it alone and nothing has happened. I know for a fact the feathers will not be coming back, as she has molted and none of them had reappeared or shown any signs of reappearing.
Earlier this month I noticed the very center of the bald spot was bleeding, upon touch it seemed to be ice cold, though the rest of her butt wasn't. I wiped the area off and put vaseline on it, thinking it might help. Later that week the area seemed to have a small amount of pus on it. Once again I wiped it off and put vaseline on it. After that I left it alone as it seemed to have been getting better, however, today it once again got worse as i had found blood dripping down the injury.
The temperature has been be below freezing but inside of their coop is a heater that makes this living area warmer, not to mention body heat from the other hens. The floor has hay and pine shavings on it and is quite soft, though Rocky sleeps on a small perch with two of the other hens a few inches off of the ground. Her appetite is as normal as it always has been as well as her drinking.
- Is there anything I can do to help get rid of this bald spot?
- Should I be worried that the bald spot is protruding on her?
- How can I get rid of that little spot that keeps bleeding on her butt? Is it frost bite?

 

[Eggcessive]

These bald spots can be common on some hens. It may be puffy from something going on internally such as a cyst, internal laying, or just her normal anatomy. It looks more prominent because the other chickens or she are pecking out the feathers as they come in. I have one or two that look like this. The worst one has been like that for a long time, and when she molted this fall, the feathers all grew back in. This week she is getting them pecked out again, and her droppings tend to stick to her bottom. I would spray her bald spot every 3 days with BluKote to allow her feathers to come back in. Look her over for lice, their white clumps of eggs, and mites, in case she is pecking at them. If you see any pus or abrasions, put alittle neosporin on them after cleaning and squeezing out remaining pus.
Watch to see if they are overcrowded, add a little extra protein to the diet with some chopped egg or some all flock 20% feed. Make sure they are getting outside first thing in the morning to free range or have some things in their run to keep them from getting bored.

 

[aishilemon]

I know for a fact that the other hens are not plucking out her feathers, and she is not either. The area itself is not showing signs of feathers coming back. Once a week all year long I sit down with the chickens and give them a look over for any pests or injuries that might have been picked up, never found anything on her.
The spot has always been protruding since I got her, and it doesn't seem any more out there than it has throughout her period of living with me. It has never affected her laying eggs either (though she doesn't lay in the winter)
They get up at 7 in the morning and have plenty of room to go about their business, when I have the time I let them out and let them free range for up to an hour and a half (I do this every day).
I will definitely be trying the blukote.... I always use that on my horses but I never thought about using it on chickens!

 

[aishilemon]

To conclude this thread! Solutions, and what was wrong:

I got really lucky because this pretty lady got to see a vet a month after I posted this. I was getting all of my horses checked, so she was able to get checked out too.
The bottom line (haha no pun intended) was that she has a fatty tumor. It won't hurt her, and it shouldn't grow. It does not need to be removed, and will cause no problems for her. The reason why it was bleeding was because she had gotten frost bite in the center, the most unprotected part
There is nothing wrong with her!!! Oh the relief! To avoid this next year I have to treat the bald spot like it's another comb. Putting petroleum jelly (Vaseline) on it will help a lot, and I will have to figure out how to make pants or a diaper for her, as funny as it sounds. It is no different than a chicken with a bald back needing a saddle, or a bald chest that needs an apron.