Raw, red butt and missing feathers

[ShelleyBurch]

My two RIRs both have raw, red butts and missing feathers on their butt and top. The redness and raw started when one of our chickens turned out to be a rooster (this was a surprise)! Once he started getting at the ladies we got rid of him. That was at the end of January, so I expected the birds to be healed by now, but it isn't healing so I was wondering if there is another problem and what to do about it. I checked for lice and mites and didn't see any. I've also been watching for the other birds to be feather picking and didn't see any indication of that either. Anyone have any thoughts and suggestions? I've read a few other posts, but not really sure what to treat it with. Thanks for your help!

 

[mobius]

It MIGHT be vent gleet, a yeast infection...treatable...yeast like to grow on injuries, etc...I haven't had personal experience....so just suggesting that you may want to research it....

 

[ShelleyBurch]

Does anyone else have any thoughts on this? I really am not sure what to do or how to treat this. They are acting normal and laying normal, but this isn't healing. Our rooster has been gone since the end of January. Any other thoughts or tips would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[critterkeeper25]

HI,
The feathers missing on your chickens backs resembles what I have been having issues with for almost a year. It is usually seen on hens when there is a rooster in your flock. When the rooster mounts the hens during mating he can knock off some of her feathers. Our issue has been a hen (one of our 14 hens) has taken to plucking and eating the feathers of her flock mates. You could have feathers missing from the back of your hens for either reason.
Vent gleet, on the other hand, causes redness and irritation/loss of feathers/manure caking on the butt. I have read that it can be caused by ingestion of bad feed/treats, stress, poor sanitation. It is as the post above states, change of ph in a chicken's digestive system causing diarrhea, and irritation within the digestive tract. It can cause scar tissue to form in the cloaca which can interfere with the passage of poop and egg. There is a post on this forum on how to treat vent gleet. I'm in the process of trying to treat it myself. I have a hen with it.

I hope this helps.

 

[ShelleyBurch]

So, maybe this started with our rooster and now we have a hen continuing the feather picking? I'll do some research on how to stop that. But, I haven't witnessed any of that. Also, we are going to expand the coop in the next month so maybe that will help. It will give the girls some more room and something else to do!

 

[Nifty fifty]

I never had this with any chicken until this year and it started 3 months ago no lice no nothing and it is still here I think something else is going on wood chips food ect I am totally in the dark I thought I had bard rocks hens but I think they are a mixed with leg horns and that could be it