[Pretty Chick]

Sooty's comb and wattles look horrible.

From a distance I could see something wasn't right. She looked different.

Up close I was horrified to see that her comb and wattles look very scabby, swollen and really dry .

Her feet aren't a pretty sight either with one 'toe' looking incredibly swollen.
I was shocked to find her like this for we have never had a problem like this in all the years we've kept chickens.
She's the only hen like it.

She is around 2.5 years old. She's always been a quiet hen, lying down and sunbathing a lot. She hasn't laid an egg for months, but we just accepted she had reached 'menopause'.

We have now sprayed iodine on her comb and wattles and put her in the rabbit hutch so she can be away from the others and is less likely to get an infection.

While we sprayed her, she didn't struggle as much as she normally does when we pick her up.
She seems weaker and sleepier than she normally is, but her eyes are still very bright.

I haven't a clue what's wrong with her.
Has she been badly pecked by some of the bigger hens (she's a bantam and the largest breed we have are orpingtons, but the black rhodes seem strong)?

Has she got a disease ect.?

Is there anything else I should/can do for her?

What shall I feed her?

I will be really grateful if anyone can help me and thank you for reading this post.
P.S. If anyone wants to see a photo of her, just ask and I'll see what I can do

[evie2]

That sounds awful I'm sure someone on here will be able to help.  Grace

[joyfull]

ok, get her to a vets and get them to check if it is favus - the signs are white powdery spots and wrinkled crusts and scabs on the wattles and comb, feather loss, honey comb skin, thick crusty skin, and loss of condition. treatment is by formalin in petroleum jelly.
I am not saying it is this but worth mentioning to the vet just in case.

[joyfull]

Just found another 2 possibilities - one is a vit b deficiency- deficient in pantothenic acid which results in scaly skin and dermatitis, and the other is Vibrionic hepatitis , avian infectious hepatitis again has scaly comb, so more things for your vet to take into consideration.
Information regarding these illnesses was taken from one of the books that I have called
Poultry Health and Disease by Paul McMullin

[Aunt Sally]

Anything like this PC ?

[compostqueen]

I hope not, that looks bad

Any word on your hen yet?

[Pretty Chick]

Thank you everyone.

She's okay this morning and when I offered her a couple of raspberries, she gobbled them down.

I suppose a trip to the vets is in line, but I've heard normal vets aren't very good with chickens. Is this true? Shall we take her as soon as possible? She doesn't seem in any pain.

Anyway, Sooty's comb hasn't white dots on as the one in Aunt Sally's photo has. Sooty's comb is like the top right-hand side of the chicken in the photos comb.
So I suppose Sooty's is much worse as it's white all over, not dotted and the same on her wattles  .

[Pretty Chick]

Hopefully these photos of her will help you to know if she has favus ect.

[joyfull]

looking at your photos I don't think she has the same as the one in Aunt Sallys photo (which was Avian Pox by the way). Just going to browse through some books to see if I can find anything that looks similar. In the meantime ring round your local vets to see if any of them has either experience with poultry or sometimes they have somebody who will treat exotic animals (for some reason the training courses for exotics also cover chickens  ), or try to find a local livestock vet.

[compostqueen]

there is a list of decent poultry vets on here, in the Stickies I think as Aunt Sally put it there, with all of us contributing, so a look there would be a start for you PC

Whether you need a vet this time, and it looks like you do, you'll need to know where your nearest one is at you never know when you might call upon their services

I do hope you can get her sorted out quickly 

[jhub]

Hi Pretty Chick and sorry that your hen is not well.

I know it's a bit of a trek but there is a vet near Richmond Park that specialises in exotic animals- including chickens. They are expensive(£50 a consult!)
You could always pop in for a cuppa to break the journey and Sooty could have a scratch around in my garden.
Jane

[compostqueen]

Just looked on here for the Poultry Friendly Vets by county and come up with Senlac in Battle which is East Sussex 32 Mount Street, Battle
TN33 OEG01424 777321

[joyfull]

Jane thats a lovely offer but I would not advise letting Pretty chicks hen out just in case it is infectious, sorry   . Although the Richmond vets does seem a good idea  
PC - I have found a picture that I think looks similar - just waiting to hear from Aunt Sally to see if she agrees with me. Joy xx

[joyfull]

well spotted CQ 

[Pretty Chick]

It's amazing how may lovely people are out there   . Thank you for all your comments so far, we really appreciate it.

Jane - that's such a kind offer and thank you very much, but I think Richmond is quite a long way to travel especially with an ill chicken     and quite expensive too  . Many thanks again Jane   .

Joy - It's very good of you to look in your books to see if a pic matches with the one of Sooty, thank you and will look forward to hearing what Aunt Sally thinks too .

Compostqueen - thank you for having the time to look for a Poultry friendly vet . I'll have a look at the list to see if there is one a bit nearer than East Sussex, but that one's a definite possibility  .