Barred Rock Poo Drama

So is it just my two Barred Rocks that constantly have poo stuck to their rear ends or has anyone else had a problem with this. None of my other breeds have this problem. I decided to give Tilda a warm bath, I feared she may have been egg bound and I wanted to get rid of all of the poo stuck to her butt. When I did I saw an open sore with maggots! Im taking her to vet first thing in the morning. My guess is the poo stuck to the skin causing the sore, or that I may have pulled on it too hard a couple of days ago thinking it would come off easily. Either way I feel absolutely horrible. Both my barred rocks constantly have this poo on their rear ends. Molly is getting a bath tomorrow so i can make sure I dont have another problem creeping up on me. I'm about ready to pluck their little butts bare! Has anyone else had a problem with poo build up on barred rocks? How do you prevent this other than trimming the stuff thats in the way? I do it with my dog, I'll do it with my chickens too if I have to. I now see that it could become a very bad situation if left unchecked. Everyone is getting a poo check tomorrow!

Good luck with that. I have an issue similar with a marans cockrell. I am curious to know how it turns out for you. Yesterday I noticed the flies are driving him crazy! I just cleaned his vent the other day, but tonight I am doing a full inspection after reading your post. Let me know. I am thinking my marans has vent gleet as he has had this for months. I clean it, and it comes back. He is isolated in his own 10' x 8' pen.

This is a big deal. I brought Tilda in to the vet this morning. I pulled a piece of poo of of her a couple of days ago and I wonder if I accidentally took a little bit of skin with it? So now I'm thinking I need to make sure these guys have no poo stuck to their feathers. I wonder why it's only my two barred rocks that have this problem. I'm wondering if I should trim some of their feathers back. I will keep you posted on Tilda.

I talked to one of the vet techs and she said it doesn't take a whole lot for a chicken to
develop a sore on their rears if there is something rubbing on it. So now Molly is going
to get a bath next. And probably Tabitha my little bantam EE.

My experience with different chickens is very limited, but I have the same problem. The Barred Rock hen is filthy while the others have nice fluffy butts. I've noticed the BR doesn't squat to poop like the others do, she just stands there and lets it fall wherever. Which is mostly all over her butt fluff.

That is odd that you both have barred rock issues. I have had my 2 barred rocks for over a year, and they have been in perfect health. One is currently raising chicks she hatched out in July. I don't think it has anything to do with the breed, I think it's just a coincidence. I also have several other chicken breeds (RIR, EE, OE, New Hampshire, Jersey Giants, Australorp, BO, French Marans, SS & more).

I have had Silkies, EEs, Wyandottes, Orpingtons, Red Stars, Turkens and a Russian Orloff. They all have nice fluffy butts too. It's just the Barred Rocks that seem to end up with all of the poo stuck to their fannies. Anyway it's something that I will have to pay closer attention to for sure. The vet said that Tilda will probably be ok, she is going to end up
Spending the night at the vets so they can flush out the wound and hit her hard with some antibiotics. Going to cost an arm and a leg but what's a mother to do? They're my babies what can I say.

Good luck with your girls, sounds painful. Your post made me double check my barred rocks. I have 10 BR and they are clean,so are the other girls. But now you can bet I'll be checking them more often.

Yes its very important. I gave miss Molly a bath and cut some feathers off so that will never happen again. Unfortunately Tilda passed away, Im so sad. The vet expected her to be fine, but I called on Saturday right before I was going to leave and pick her up and the vet said she had a seizure and died not even two minutes before I called. She said she suspects that she had something else major going on like cancer or something. I'm having a necropsy done so hopefully I will know what exactly happened. I know one thing, there are some local hatcheries around here that I will NEVER purchase chickens from again. I've had some major health issues with many of the chickens I have gotten here locally. Dare to Dream farms is the way to go, if you're in California. They deliver to your door! They garuntee them to be hens and healthy. They even started vaccinating for infectious bronchitis! I lost a whole batch of baby bantams to that it was heartbreaking.....