skin condition??

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GemmaEllen

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I have 2 ex-batt chickens, been with us about 2 years now. We moved a few months back and brought the girls to a brand new coop at the new house. It seemed to put Gracie into a moult, which we were told was quite common (stress of moving etc)

we've been leaving her to it (helped her through her bout of slow crop too) but she's not getting any better. After checking her over, I keep seeing dry, flaky skin that peels off from around her vent and along her back. (assuming its all over) If I try to clean it off it makes her itch. There are no sign of eggs or bugs, and I've cleaned out the brand new coop for mites and everything.

Does anyone have any idea what might be bothering her? The pair of them sleep in nesting boxes (A habit I've never been able to break them from) and they sleep on dry hay mixes with wool and sometimes a handful of dried herbs.

Her sister, Maggie, is fine - no signs or symptoms at all!

Poor little thing has no tail feathers anymore, and I'd love to make her more comfortable!!
 
If it is on exposed skin I don't suppose it could be the result of sunburn?. In any case try gently rubbing some Vaseline of E45 cream into the skin which should provide some moisture and soothe the area.
 
Hi, thanks for replying. I dont think it could be sunburn. She and Maggie are very good at keeping to the shade when its hot, and are in a secure run when we aren't about, which is mostly covered.

Can chickens get eczema or psoriasis?? that's what it reminds me of.
 
And I would try changing the nestbox material, as she might have developed an allergy to hay dust. Hay isn't very good bedding anyway as it's difficult to keep it clean. Many people, including me, use Aubiose, which is shredded hemp. This is very comfortable, incredibly absorbent, and very easy to poo pick. You can use it in the bottom of the coop as well.
Other than that idea, she may have some kind of infestation from minute mites, which would be hard to see, although as the other girl is unaffected this isn't very likely. Could you possibly post some photos of her condition? In a case like this it would probably be worth a visit to the vet, if you have one who understands about chickens/birds. They must both be around 4 years old by now, which is a good age for exbatts to reach.
 
Hi Marigold,

Thanks for the reply. I didnt think of a hay allergy! I guess its possible so I'll get some aubiose - never heard of it before!! Found it on amazon though so will put an order in. I'll try and get some photos although its tricky. her skin isnt really red or anything - just itchy and peeling! her feathers are still dropping out which i'm worried about. she seems to have been moulting for ages now.

We dont have a vet that deals with chickens. only the local farm where we buy our food. the woman there is great and keeps chickens herself, but said she'd never had a chicken with eczema before!

Yeah they are coming up to 4 years old now. we've had our share of problems - ex-batts get sick ALL THE TIME. but we love them. they are our girls. <3
 
A local farm store or equestrian store type thing may have Aubiose... especially as it's marketed as horse bedding. It'll save on a fair bit of posting cost if you can buy a 20kg bale yourself.
 
Just a thought - has Gracie moulted before? If you have had her for 2 years and guessing she would have been 1 to 1 1/2 years when you got her, she would be 3 or 3 1/2. If this is the first time she has moulted then it might just be a big one. Doesn’t explain the flaking skin though but a couple of mine have had an odd red patch underneath and a lack of feathers. When one finally moulted (big style) then the redness went and new feathers came through. The pealing skin might be part of the moult - shedding skin that is damaged from some mystery condition that wasn’t obvious when she had feathers? (its a guess)
Still don’t know what the redness is on the one of mine that still has it but presumably it with go with the first moult like the other.

Of course, she should be producing new pin feathers along the way. If that didn’t happen then you would know something was seriously amiss and the skin condition would be looking like the cause.
 
Have a look at the list of stockists on the Aubiose website http://www.aubiose.co.uk/stockists.php
It's mainly sold as horse bedding so there may be an equestrian establishment nearby where you can buy a bale to bring home by car without paying extortionate carriage costs. Alternatively there are several kinds of shredded bedding you may find in agricultural stores which are dust free. Or try dust-removed shavings from Pets at Home etc. I have no idea if this'll help but in any case it's best to about hay in a coop as the spores can cause respiratory problems in hens.
 
Aubiose seems almost unobtainable at the moment, I had to pay nearly £20 for a bale from an Amazon supplier, it is usually about £8.50 at Rokers.

I had bought some woodchips - Snowflake, as I could not find Aubiose anywhere, I decided for once that it was worth the extra, and the snowflake can go to the tip, or to my granddaughter's gerbils for bedding! Aubiose really is unbeatable as chick bedding.
 
We only used Aubiose once for chicks and never again Valerie. The slivers of stem got underneath the scales on their feet and cut them to pieces -the result was a bloodbath. For weeks two to six we now use dust extracted small rodent wood shavings which are very soft. Sold by pet shops not agricultural merchants.
 
When I was in Worcester the other day I was next to an equestrian store and asked for Auboise out of interest (looking for a more commercial price.)
They could get some in but didn’t stock it (£12 a bale) but did have chopped rapeseed stalk for £8 a bale so I got some. Seems very similar, just a little courser maybe.
 
chrismahon said:
We only used Aubiose once for chicks and never again Valerie. The slivers of stem got underneath the scales on their feet and cut them to pieces -the result was a bloodbath. For weeks two to six we now use dust extracted small rodent wood shavings which are very soft. Sold by pet shops not agricultural merchants.
Click to expand...

I don't know about chicks, although I've used Aubiose for quail cages with no problems. I think it's definitely the bedding of choice for adult birds.
 
Hi, Thanks for all the replies. It helps to know so many people are interested in solving my little Chicken's issues! :)

Below is a link to some photos. the best I could get given that she doesn't much like being prodded at the moment!

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMdoyU5mDrkQDqJ5RRrKwUn-FIvR8JKXQHbVIySpg23G7ht9TU8wgd08VHNt3znFw?key=NkxJM0ttTmxUSE1vcTRrdlZfUnFsZF84ZWE4VjhB

you can see that her tail is completely gone. 2 photos show whats going on around her vent. Some of her feathers have been clipped by me after she recently made a right mess of herself (diarrhoea after a bout of slow crop. lots of fun, that!)

Difficult to see in one of the pictures, but the skin is flaky there, and peeling off. some of the white dust is a powder I tried dusting her in yesterday - antibacterial and soothing (left over from my cats condition - seems it runs in the family!) she's been much brighter since I put that on her, so I think it's helped.

I should add that Gracie has scar tissue on her back from a dog bite (I discussed it here: http://poultrykeeperforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9035)

There are pin feathers coming through, and some of her dandruff does seem to be the papery bits from the feathers which I've seen before. I guess it could be possible she's just going through a tricky moult??

She has always had a bit of a 'comb-over' - ever since we got her. it was much paler than that recently, but has perked up a bit (since I put the antibac powder on her really!) But she's a friendly girl and I'd hate to lose her through not doing enough!

Any more suggestions on what is going on with the silly thing would be grateful! Other symptoms are, she's not laid an egg for MONTHS now (freeloader!) and she grew a spur about 5 months ago. I read that the hormone change that leads to the spur growth also stops the egg production.
 
At 3-4 years old, and with a history of early life in intensive farming conditions, an exbatt is doing well if still standing, and will most probably have used up all her egg cells, gone through the 'henopause,' and is unlikely to return to lay next Spring, assuming she gets through the winter. Your hens are lucky girls, to have had as much as two years of freedom with you, and should now really be considered retired.
I've had 4-year-old hens who grew spurs and returned to lay, but they tended to be purebreds, who are generally longer-lived than hybrids and lay less intensively over a longer time.
 
thanks Marigold. I know the girls are reaching their 'time' and I know they've lived happy lives since coming to us 2 years ago. I'll hate it when we do finally lose them though. :(

What is the best thing to do in terms of finding a friend for the one left behind? Is it better to get new girls now, whilst both are still around, or after one has passed on? We don't have a huge amount of space in the new house and would probably look to get a couple of smaller pure breeds who dont get broody (I've been told this is more likely with purebreeds and difficult to break them out of it. Since we don't have the room for a tonne of chicks (as much as I'd love them!) suggestions on our options would be welcome!)

I'm assuming the photos didnt flag any warning signs for you? It could be a heavy moult - she has the new feathers and is still dropping old ones - but its been going on for so long now, I just want to make sure I'm not missing something obvious!
 
It does look like she may have been pecking off the pin feathers a bit by the blood on the ends of the shafts and scabs where feather follicles would be. Anti peck spray applied very locally may help (It tastes like lemon pith and quite unpleasant - yes I couldn’t resist finding out for myself, yuck!)
Love the pictures, especially the pose!

Just noticed you said that you clipped some which would explain the shafts (be careful not to trim new feathers too short.) Still may have been pecking a bit to produce the little scabs. Other than that it looks like she is feathering up nicely and a new tail should be along soon. They seem to save that and the flight feathers for last. I think if they get to moult (genetically selected not to do that or go broody and lay solidly for as long as possible) then they seem to get a new lease of life. As Marigold said - lucky girls!
 
It's good to be planning ahead for additions to your hens, as it would probably be harder to introduce new birds to just the one singleton who would be left when one of them passes on, and it's good to have a range of ages in your little flock. How much actual space do you have in your coop, I.e, how many perches are there and what length, and what are the interior dimensions? If you bought it online have you still got the link, or can you find something similar, so we could have a look at it? The other factor is run size, if you keep them in a run. They would need 2 sq. metres of floor space each if confined for more than fairly short periods each day.
If you have room, it would be good to get two new point of lay pullets ASAP, because when the breeding season ends in September onwards, resident birds become calmer and much less aggressive to newbies, especially if in moult which takes a lot of their energy. Also the new ones should come into lay within a few weeks and provide you with regular eggs throughout this winter when your exbatts are resting. Yea of course you could wait until you are down to just one, but then you'd need to get two rather than another single one, or the problem would just repeat itself before very long.
Choice of breed - some purebreds go broody, which can be a nuisance as they stop laying and just want to sit in the nestbox, so you then need to break them of it by turfing them out and penning them in the open air until their hormones return to normal. If you don't keep a cockerel their eggs won't be fertile, and even if you did, you don't have to let them sit and hatch chicks, so no fear of being overrun! For purebreds, consider Cream Legbars, who are lovely small birds who have little tufts of feathers on their heads and who lay blue or green eggs and don't go broody. There are also many CLB hybrids around as well. For small hybrids, also not broody, try Columbian Blacktails - I'm sure Rick will agree these are fantastic little hybrids who lay lovely brown eggs of surprising size, not quarrelsome and with great personalities.
Az for Gracie, yes there is quite a lot of flaking when they moult and new feathers begin to emerge, like dandruff. She doesn't look too bad to me, and so long as the other one seems OK and doesn't appear to be having similar problems, which then could be due to microscopic mites, I would just keep an eye on her, boost her diet, and see what happens in the next 2-3 weeks.
 
Morning!

Thanks for the posts. Rick, I have some anti peck spray so I'll try that with Gracie. She''s a little slower this morning so she got some wet cat food (for the extra protein) and I'll check on her when I get home from work. If she still seems low I'll give her some nutridrops.

If you all think its just a hard moult, then I'm happy to let her get on with it. I will toss the hay bedding and get something new that is better for her anyway.

Thanks for the advice on the integration of the newbies. I'll have a chat to the other half and see whether he thinks we can get some now.

the coop we have is this:

http://www.chickencoopsdirect.com/sussex-double-run.htm

You can see it in one of the pictures I posted - we painted it purple and call it the Eggplant (get it?) :)
We actually increased the run size by another 3rd (you can buy the separate bits) and added a platform from one of the leftover mesh pieces, as Maggie likes to sit up high and wait for us. <3 other than that there is grass and dirt under the coop, some pea shingle for them to scratch in, a 'feeding station' a paving slab, and a dust bath area, which I top up as often as it needs.

There are 2 roosts but we've taken them out since Mags and Gracie dont use them. Still have them in the shed I think. We'd like smaller chickens as I like to make sure they've got more room than they need.

The girls spend all the time we are out (at work etc) in the enclosed run/coop, and then when I get home I let them 'free range' in our enclosed garden. (its just grass and patio at the moment since we've not long been here - but there will be a 'real' garden for them to roam in eventually. I tend to toss out a small handful of mealworms onto the grass which gets them scratching around. Otherwise they like to follow me into the kitchen and eat the cat food!!!

Since the dog attack on Gracie I'm extra conscious of security so our fences are high and every inch is enclosed. (we are more suburban than before so foxes are a concern now, although I've only seen them at night so far, and not in the garden at all.)
 
I would have thought you could consider two more smallish birds, from non-flighty breeds who can tolerate confinement, (no leghorns!) on the understanding that numbers wouldn't increase beyond that, and would decrease naturally in time, when the exbatts go eventually. Of course you could consider bantams, who are very pretty, take up less space, and although their eggs are smaller the yolks are proportionately larger within the shell, like quails eggs. Some kinds of bantams are inclined to go broody, eg Silkies, and it can get a bit boring constantly trying to break them of it, lovely though they are, but some breeds lay well, look attractive in the garden, and make excellent pets as well as being moderately productive for quite a long time. If you got a couple now, you could even add two more once the exbatts had gone, maybe next Autumn, to give you a range of ages in the flock so they don't all become 'retired' at the same time.
 
Wouldn't worry too much about broodiness when choosing Gemma (Silkies are the exception), provided you spot it early and don't let them sit for an extended period it only normally takes a maximum of 3-4 days to break them out of it. How well they tolerate confinement, friendliness and egg laying are more important attributes. This book, Choosing and Keeping chickens has a nice overview of the breeds with good photos.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Choosing-Keeping-Chickens-Chris-Graham/dp/0600614387/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
 
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