Skin disorder in Black Sex Link

[CopperChik101]

I have a seven year old Black Sex Link hen that is acting sick. She has lost 1/3 her weight in a month. Puffing her feathers up, pulling out tail feathers mostly around butt and underneath stomach area. Other feathers seem to be falling out randomly. Skin has turned a dark yellow across body that is extremely dark yellow, dry, wrinkled. She stands with the tail pointing down to the ground lately. Comb has went from red to barely pink. Leg color is almost white. Eating and drinking ok. Poop fine. No skin bugs, injuries, or any other signs that she is distressed. Has very nice large coop, kept clean, temperature controlled. Other seven chickens are healthy. I can't find anything on web to explain strange conditions. Any Ideas?

 

[azygous]

Though your descriptions are pretty detailed, it would help to have a few photos to augment them. I find that photos inspire intuitive ideas where verbal descriptions leave things in the abstract, making it hard to make connections to my own experiences.

Often seeing a chicken's stance and body language can trigger an experience with a chicken in my own flock, and I can make a better guess as to what may be going on with your chicken.

The dry wrinkled skin may have some connection to weight loss, associated with cancer tumors, usually in the reproductive system. It's a safe guess given the age of your hen and her breed, reproductive issues in sex links being a common end result of breeding for maximum egg production.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Puffing her feathers up, pulling out tail feathers mostly around butt and underneath stomach area. Other feathers seem to be falling out randomly. Skin has turned a dark yellow across body that is extremely dark yellow, dry, wrinkled. She stands with the tail pointing down to the ground lately. Comb has went from red to barely pink. Leg color is almost white. Eating and drinking ok

Can you please post some photos of her?
How old is she?

This is the time of year a lot of chickens molt. Hens are usually not in lay during molt so, combs can pale and shrink, leg color may not be as bright, etc..
Do you see any new feather growth?

 

[Kiki]

Welcome to BYC.
Paleness can be from Coccidiosis, worms and mites/lice.

A few clear pictures of the skin would be great.

 

[Kiki]

Can you please post some photos of her?
How old is she?

This is the time of year a lot of chickens molt. Hens are usually not in lay during molt so, combs can pale and shrink, leg color may not be as bright, etc..
Do you see any new feather growth?

I think she is 7.

 

[CopperChik101]

Feathers are trying to regrow but she pulls them out.

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. Pictures could be helpful. Seven is pretty old for a hen. At that age, reproductive disorders, liver disease, or cancer could be very common. Will she eat any cooked egg, wet chicken feed, tuna, or sunflower seeds? I would give her 2 ml of Poultry NutriDrench daily for the next few days. Keep her comfortable, try to keep her eating and drinking.

 

[chkncrazy]

You're lucky to have a sex link that is 7 years old..... I've been raising chickens for about 20 years and any sex linked that I never culled on my own, either got egg bound or some kind of reproductive issue and died off by 4 years at best, I hope she gets better but as a sexlink shes already running on fumes, I know it can be hard to accept, hopefully I'm wrong and dont come across as insensitive, but that's the trouble with these hybrids.