Oh, *NoCupcake7450*, we see you. We see you standing in the coop at dawn, coffee in hand, watching your favorite hen look like she's trying out for a horror movie audition. Her comb is darker, her face is puffy, and she's decided the roosters are basically feathered monsters she must avoid at all costs. And now? Now she's pulling her own feathers out. You've got a sock onesie on her, vitamins in her water, and antibiotics doing their best. And she's still not better. That's the moment when chicken-keeping stops being a quirky hobby and starts feeling like a genuine medical drama. We've all been there, and we all hate it.
You're doing a lot of things right, but you might be fighting the wrong enemy. The dark comb and facial swelling? That sounds like it could be a respiratory issue, maybe something lingering from the other hen you isolated. The feather-pulling, though, that's the real tell. Chickens pull feathers for two reasons: external parasites or sheer, bone-deep misery. You checked for mites and lice and found nothing, so we're leaning toward misery. And what makes a hen miserable enough to start plucking? Pain. Pain from an infection that hasn't been knocked out yet, or pain from something weirder, like a reproductive issue (egg binding, internal laying) that can cause facial swelling and a sudden hatred for roosters. The fact that she runs to you and wants to be picked up? That's not affection, friend. That's a hen saying, "I hurt, and you're the only thing that doesn't hurt."
If a reader brought this to us, we'd tell them to stop guessing and start swabbing. A vet can do a tracheal swab or a blood test to figure out if this is bacterial, viral, or fungal. Antibiotics are great, but they only work on bacteria, and if she's got a virus (like infectious bronchitis) or a fungal issue (aspergillosis), those meds are just expensive water. Also, that irritated area under the feathers could be a wound or an abscess she created by picking. A sock onesie is clever, but it's a bandage on a broken leg. The underlying cause is still there. And while you're waiting for the vet, keep her isolated, keep her warm, and offer her something soft to sit on, a towel, not straw, so she can rest without rubbing that sore spot.
Here's the concrete point: you love this hen, and that's why you're panicking. But love won't diagnose her. A vet will. Call around, find one who treats poultry, and ask for a respiratory panel and a physical exam of her abdomen. If she's egg-bound or has internal laying, those vitamins and antibiotics won't touch it. If it's a stubborn respiratory infection, she might need a different antibiotic or an antifungal. Either way, the sock onesie is a stopgap, not a solution. Get her the help she needs, and then you can both go back to ignoring the roosters together.
