Hen has scabby head/swollen eyes

[JohnH123]

Located South Carolina.
One of our road island red hens has become very broody. She just hatched a big batch of bitties. Over this week she has been looking more and more rough. Her comb and face are ashy looking not bright red anymore, it looks like there may be some discoloration and scabbing and her eyes look a little swollen. Her legs look perfectly normal. Does anyone have any ideas on what this could be? I'd like to narrow down the possibilities before doing unnecessary treatments. She isolates herself mainly which is fairly common, she is eating feed but not as much as the others.

 

[RiDaGeckoGuy]

Kinda looks like dry fowl pox but I’ve never seen dry skin like this and usually the whole flock gets it

 

[Eggcessive]

My guess is also dry fowl pox, the virus spread by mosquitoes. It lasts about a month, but in baby chicks it can cause large lesions on the face. She looks very weak. Break her from being broody, in a pen in wire dog crate with food and water. I put mine on dirt or grass with no bedding. There is no treatment for pox, but while it runs its course, I would apply some Betadine 10% to her scabs, and a little Neosporin into her eyes if scabs are near eyes. Keep Betadine away from eyes. Get her drinking some fluids with electrolytes or sugar 1 tsp per cup. Offer moistened chicken feed and cooked egg up to her beak.

 

[JohnH123]

Right now I have her in a dog kennel with high protein feed and water in there, with no bedding. Her lower eye lids are swollen to the point they are almost completely closed. You say to apply betadine to her scabs but keep away from her eyes. I have also read It could possibly be some type of mites, what are yalls thoughts of the possibly of mites?

 

[RiDaGeckoGuy]

Right now I have her in a dog kennel with high protein feed and water in there, with no bedding. Her lower eye lids are swollen to the point they are almost completely closed. You say to apply betadine to her scabs but keep away from her eyes. I have also read It could possibly be some type of mites, what are yalls thoughts of the possibly of mites?

Are there mites on her skin

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is what to look for if there are lice or mites:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/

 

[JohnH123]

That link was very helpful. I did a brief check last night and did not see anything moving. I will check again more thoroughly today. I know I've heard of chickens getting something similar to redbugs/chiggers that burrow under the skin that's why I brought up something like mites. If it is something along the lines of dry fowl pox, what can I do to help treat that? I'm worried since her eyes are swollen almost shut.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would a towel under her. Are you raising her baby chicks in a brooder now? How old are they? Are any showing signs of pox? Is your hen scratching at her face and head? Since her eyes are so swollen, make up a fresh bowl of wet chicken feed, scrambled egg bits, and feed her up to her beak. Offer water after. Tube feeding is something that can also be done if necessary. But it would be better to let her take it on her own 2-3 times a day.