Chicken with caked-on poopy backside?

[yodelinginca]

My 5yo golden sex link hen has developed a terrible buildup of poop on her butt feathers. I'm not sure how she's even able to squeeze out more as I can't see her butthole. Help! How do I help/ clean her?

She's usually annoyingly energetic. This morning I went out and she was walking slowly, all hunched down and fluffed up. Maybe it's bc it was cool, but the other 4 hens seemed comfortable and I've seen her act normal on colder days than this.

She does not free range, coop & run are cleaned daily.

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

with warm water, just gently wipe / soak, as you would any animal.

 

[nuthatched]

Fill a bucket with warm water an give her a good soak.
This could indicate a few problems, like worms, vent gleet, crop issues, etc.

 

[Matilda84]

Yes as someone already said it can be a sign of many different problems. I would suggest worming her if you haven't recently. However I had a girl who suddenly started regularly getting a really poopy butt when she was about 3, but she was completely healthy otherwise for a good year or two, we just had to keep giving her baths!

Good luck

 

[yodelinginca]

with warm water, just gently wipe / soak, as you would any animal.

Thanks! I did. Took about an hour, plus blow drying her. 3 days layer she's still listless and hunched down, just barely feeding, and her poop is all squirty and still sticking to her feathers. We've added some hen grit (they're mostly in dirt/sand), and started probiotics in their water. We've trimmed back on treats (grain scratch) and upped their greens. They've been on layer feed for 5 years. Anything else we can do at home? I plan to bathe her again tomorrow.

 

[Eggcessive]

Older hens can develop reproductive problem or crop disorders. Can you post any pictures of her typical droppings? Does she still lay eggs? Has she lost weight recently, or does she have any enlargement of her lower belly under the vent? How does he crop feel, and could you check it early in the morning before she eats to see if it has emptied? Is she eating normally? I would worm her with Valbazen 1/2 ml or SafeGuard Liquid Goat wormer 1.25 ml orally, and repeat in 10 days.You can also use the SasfeGuard for 5 straight days which will get some of the more difficult worms such as capillary and gapeworms.

 

[yodelinginca]

Older hens can develop reproductive problem or crop disorders. Can you post any pictures of her typical droppings? Does she still lay eggs? Has she lost weight recently, or does she have any enlargement of her lower belly under the vent? How does he crop feel, and could you check it early in the morning before she eats to see if it has emptied? Is she eating normally? I would worm her with Valbazen 1/2 ml or SafeGuard Liquid Goat wormer 1.25 ml orally, and repeat in 10 days.You can also use the SasfeGuard for 5 straight days which will get some of the more difficult worms such as capillary and gapeworms.

She is NOT eating normally. She's normally voracious. Now she's only mildly interested.