[happychickens]

My oldest hen is a maran and we think she is about 7-8 years old, frightened of people as her first owners did not bother when their children used to poke them with sticks whilst in the hen run so I tend to not stress her and pick her up, just look at her when she goes onto the perch on an evening as she does not seem to mind because I look at them all then, anyway bought some new hens about 6 week or so ago and two are cuckoo marans and very very feathery so my fault for not noticing the lice, hence everyone got lice - I got some johnsons spray and sprayed everyone which worked a treat, but I did notice before I did this and subsequently since that my old girl suzy has crusty skin, the easiest place for me to look is top and bottom of her vent and on looking tonight it looks like it must have gone up her body because she has some dry skin near her comb - can this be some sort of skin infection or do I need to give her something for dry skin as she gets older or even something to do with mites - any help gratefully accepted

[azubah]

Hi happy.

Does she seem itchy, or is the skin broken or weeping?

A picture might help.

[happychickens]

She was very itchy with the lice, which is understandable and I think its not so much itchy as annoying her - will try and get a picture this evening..... which should be amusing as they are camera shy.  The skin is more crusty and I did not see any weeping when I looked yesterday

[snowflake]

try vasoline on the aera's for a 2-3  days and see if that helps. the oil in it should lift the crusty bits off.

[happychickens]

Hi  I have taken some photos but it is now beyond me to compress them down to add them! oh well

[happychickens]

Mastered the photo thing, easy when you clear the brain!

Anyway to chicken problem, I have attached three photos, one shows as you look at the head shot some white just to the left of Suzy's comb the other two show her vent area - as her new feathers have been coming through since the dreaded lice problem they still have there protective coats round some at the bottom end.  I did again last night have a look at the skin and it is crusty on top and when you gently move some of it it has a yellow tinge to it - any ideas?

[happychickens]

Are there any other skin complaints out there because she had a minor case of this before the lice?

[happychickens]

The skin is crusty, still dry when the top crust comes off - the crust is white with yellow in it - could it be a fungus?

[snowflake]

If she was my hen I would give her a bath, warm water with a mild shampoo I have a teatree one ( nice smell good for doing poo bums) and massage it to remove the crust and yellowl off. then rinse the feathers well and blow dry. Make sure she is dry before returning her to the rest.
cod liver oil would not hurt her either in her food, she may feel like preening herself again afterwards, to clean all her feathers.

[happychickens]

Hi
Think I will give that a go, she really does not like being handled so I think it will be a two man job, perhaps on a warmer day this week to help things!  I will get my beloved to hold her as her nip tends to draw blood as his arms will testify from last time, ha ha perhaps he should have taken my advice and worn long sleeves!  Will let you know

[snowflake]

Men dont listen ha ha, i find a warm bath they relax and enjoy it and the blow dry well just fluff the feathers up as you dry .  enjoy 

[happychickens]

Hi  Did not give her a complete bath, washed half way down, when the feathers were wet it was easier to see that the dry patch comes from her breast bone along underneath about three inches wide and up past her vent, then I presume along her back as she has a patch on her head mmm  have been looking but cannot come up with anything, I guess if she were human I would say it would be slightly infected psoriasis - did wash her in warm water with tea tree and the dogs tesco best baby shampoo! and put a little oil on a small part of her to see if it had any effect....  any other ideas?

[snowflake]

does she sleep on the floor of the hen house?
whats in your nesting boxes?
from what I have read it could be a reaction to what she is lying on or the lice/mite bites.
A course of antibiotics are needed but you need a vet to give you a precription.
You could try and email or ring  a online vet for advice.

[happychickens]

I have been looking on other sites and maybe its something called Favus - which is a fungus type of disease - am horrified she has it, have checked the others and they seem fine, cannot heavily spray my hen house at present because have a very broody hen that only leaves the next for about 5 minutes at a time, so quick clean, light spray and out - any ideas as to what to do - have started with vaseline, but am going to see if you can get formalyn in any

[happychickens]

Sorry forgot to say, she sleeps on a perch like all the others - she does not go into nesting boxes as we have only ever had two odd eggs from her since we inherited her about 4 years ago.  I have spoken to the vet how does not get enough chickens in to know if there is anything on the market if it is indeed favus - however when I read more and more the skin does have dry, sometimes yellowing honeycombe areas around the feather folicles - it is I think a type of ringworm, but how she has ended up with that I do not know.  The bedding material I use is wood shavings, not the small stuff you would use for hamsters etc but I think it may be animals like horses as each shaving can be around one to three inches long.