BR has had a dirty bottom since she started laying,my1stchicken

[Jazkabor]

My kids and I got three chicks this spring for our home schooling family. The first one to start to lay was our barred rock. (These are our first chickens ever) We read all the books we could get from our library coop, I don't remember anything about this. She started laying a couple months ago and has had a dirty backside ever since. I thought this must be normal until this month when our wyandotte finally started laying, her bottom looks nice, clean, and fluffy.
I feel pretty horrible about letting it go on for so long. This is my sons favorite animal/pet we have ever had, and that is really important to us. So if you could please explain any tips on what to do for a first time chicken keeper mama who wants to take care of her hen. That would be so wonderful of you!
God bless.

 

[chuckzoo]

I would give her a warm bath and add a little soap to get the poo off. Wear a pair of rubber gloves and gently remove it. It will soften up in warm water.

Dry her thoroughly with a hair dryer before putting her outside.

 

[Jazkabor]

Besides cleaning what should I be doing? I went out to her today to get another look and she is much cleaner than she has been. Nothing stuck any more, but bottom feathers look wet and messy. Which is a huge improvement from the stuck on stuff, but not nice and fluffy like our wyanndotte.

I did recently change the girls to layena from chick start. Maybe that has fixed it??? and she just needs some time to get healthy feathers?

Eggs have been coming in with a little smear of blood, too.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Most of my larger hens got messy bottoms, so after I cleaned them up I trimmed their feathers around their vent, stays alot cleaner, the small amount of blood is normal when they first start to lay should clear up soon