Rooster feather loss and red skin

[orelsi]

Hello everyone,

I noticed a problem I have not encountered on my other roosters before. Any similar experience or advice is welcome!

As you can see on the pics, he has lost feathers on the inside of his legs, on the belly and around the vent. It is not immediately noticable unless some wind blows the feathers around or he bends a bit. The skin is red and looks irritated.

The rooster is 1.5 years old, very healthy otherwise, has not lost weight. There is no smell and no puss or other liquids. No change in behavior. There are no other injuries and no other birds affected either roosters or hens. He keeps his normal eating and drinking habits. I have noticed he mates less possibly due to pain when he mounts them.

I don't see any parasites and no other birds are affected, but I am not excluding them as potential culprits.

The rooster lived in another place during the winter and I cannot say how long this has been going on for.

 

[Ms Clucky]

Well I had a Golden Sebright hen peck her father on the neck a lot. We gave her away and his feathers grew back. You might want to watch and see one of your hens are doing it. I used anti-pick on my rooster, but it didn't work.

 

[orelsi]

I have been watching them all day long for the last few days and there's no pecking. The spots are difficult to reach for another bird anyway.

 

[azygous]

Parasites will usually be visible around the vent skin where it's moist. It's important to rule that out or treat.

If you see no sign of mites or lice on his skin, check the coop after dark by wiping a damp paper tower on the roosting perches. If you see smears of red, you have coop mites and will need to clean and treat the premises.

But try this. Smooth on a nice think oil such as coconut oil or castor oil on his red patches. Do this before her roosts each night. Also, make note of how he positions himself on the perch. He may be sleeping in such a way so as to irritate his skin and wear off the feathers. You may need to pad the perch if this is contributing to the problem.

 

[Ms Clucky]

Maybe it's him doing it or maybe they do it while roosting. Maybe put a wildlife camera inside the coop at night so you can see the culprit.

 

[orelsi]

I will try castor oil asap, thank you. It looks like a very nice treatment from what I read online.

I cannot see any mites or lice, but my eyes are not the strongest... will apply the oil for a couple of nights and see what happens.

 

[orelsi]

Update. The castor oil did not have a visible effect. He is getting worse with the bald areas spreading. I cannot see any mites, but I know they can be tiny and the other clues point to them as well. You can see the red patches and broken feathers.

I moved to an insecticide/tar spray the vet game me. It also has regenerative properties.

Additionally he gave me another insecticide solution for the coop. Some mites spend the day on the walls and perches he said.

 

[orelsi]

I am pretty sure it's depluming mites at this point since I cannot see them and that kind are too small to see.

Does anyone know of another culprit that can do the above?

I had an idea and would be grateful for input. The little suckers have to breathe, right? Would it be effective to put the bird in a container of warm water for a bath... maybe with some soap and garlic mixed in for 10 minutes? The roo lets me touch and hold him anytime, so the procedure should be manageable. Will this kill the mites? Do they drown?

 

[azygous]

Not sure about drowning, but mites do smother when skin is coated with oil. The purpose of the castor oil suggestion was two-fold - to smother mites if present and to soothe the irritated skin.

I read once about a study to determine if head lice will die after being submerged in water. After six hours of being submerged, all the head lice were still alive. After twenty-four hours of being submerged, only half the lice had died.

I don't know if this study would apply to mites because they are not insects like lice are. They are related to ticks, and we know to put Vaseline on a tick to get it to back out of our skin because it needs oxygen and the Vaseline prevents that.

You probably should get some permethrin to treat your chicken if you suspect mites.

 

[orelsi]

Now that I think about it we put the castor oil only on the deplumed areas, but the mites are not there are they? They are in the feathers/roots.

Are you saying the castor oil should be rubbed in all over his body, Even on healthy areas? Won't that make him extremely cold due to being wet?

Sorry if it's a dumb question. How exactly, where and how much should we apply?