Does Treacle have a problem?

A few days ago I noticed Treacle had a small bare patch around her vent. The skin isn’t red, it’s a normal, white skin colour but I made a mental note to keep a close eye on her. Today we noticed that Bluebell pecked at a spot under Treacle’s wing a couple of times. On closer inspection there was a very small bare patch under each wing. I decided to pick her up for a close inspection before bedtime.

I held Treacle on my lap and inspected. There was no sign of anything around her vent and it was clean and normal, but under her left wing was a scab about the size of a small finger nail. I couldn’t find any sign of anything else and concluded that she had injured herself or been pecked and the red scab was causing Bluebell to peck at it. Treacle is her usual happy, busy self with no outward sign of any problem or stress and is laying eggs as usual.

I then researched lice and mites and read that one of the signs are scabs. I started to worry, despite the fact that I keep everything very clean and dust with D.E and have a dry dust bath of ash with a little D.E. added, which they use frequently. The information said that you need to inspect for mites after dark by torch light as this is when they will be active.

I knew I couldn’t rest until we had checked so asked my husband to come and look with me. I opened up the side panel of the coop and lifted Treacle on to my lap while my husband shone the torch on the area under her wing. We both agreed it looked like a scab from an injury perhaps on a twig of the bush in the run or a peck and looked pretty well healed already. There was no sign of lice or mites or any other scabs.

Treacle was very well behaved, I talked soothingly to her and stroked her while giving her a good look over. Treacle didn’t seem to mind and I put her back on her perch and closed the coop. It all went easier than I thought it would.

I have read that there is a product called Gentian, which is a bright purple spay and acts as an antiseptic but also stains the skin to hide redness and deter pecking. I will see if I can get some tomorrow but we both agreed that it looked as if it had already healed with no sign of any fresh blood so If I can’t source it, I think we will just keep a close eye on her. If I can get some it will be useful to have in case it’s needed in the future. I feel happier now that we have both had a look at her and will be watching her with care over the next few days.

The other three are all fluffy and fully feathered with no sign of any problems. I have read on a few blogs of hens losing feathers or moulting very late on in the year. I hope this all that is happening here.