Dirty butt....not sure if it's poop? PIC

[ChandlersChickens]

Here is my issue....
I have a white Leghorn who has been laying since October and soon after that she started getting dirty butt feathers. I thought the problem was that she was sleeping in the nest, but this is not happening to my EE.
I have washed her butt 3 times now. What is obviously poop rinses off easily with warm water. There is this other "stuff" that is stuck to the base of her butt feathers right near her skin and it is not affected by the water at all. The texture of it is grainy/fuzzy and it is greyish in color. I have no idea what this is and I can't figure out how to get it off of her.

I hope the picuture helps and hopefully someone else has seen this before. Sorry....she just had a shower so her butt doesn't look too cute in the picuture.

 

[SterlingAcres]

I have no idea. If the poo washed off and that doesn't, it can't be good right?

 

[Guinea Goonie]

You may have mites. If your layer looks like this, you really need to treat her with something. Some think it is natural for a layer to look like this, I whole heartedly disagree. I have a ORP hen that came to me like this. I treated her with DE and in a few months she was all feathered butted.

 

[Matt A NC]

If the stuff is balled on the shaft at the base of the feathers, then I would be leaning towards LICE eggs.

Stress from lice could also be causing loose stolls that cause the rest of the nastiness.

Matt

 

[SunAngel]

I have a little bantam that I got at auction that has exactly the same problem.

Her vent area was really caked with poo and raw. I have been washing it every other day with warm water and it is getting much better. She was close to death when I took her...I am a sucker for things that need help. One side of her is still really weak, but appears to be getting stronger. She can walk and try to push away from me now. She also has the white clusters at the base of the feathers below her vent that wont wash off.

I am wondering if I should dust her with Sevin Dust. Thought it might be mites?

 

[ChandlersChickens]

Yikes! Ok, so where do I get the stuff to treat her? I have been to Tractor Supply and it doesn't look like they have medication for chickens....unless I'm not looking in the right place.

 

[SunAngel]

All those feathers that look wet on your hen.... I trimmed all of those on my bantam. I hoped that would help with the poo not caking up.

 

[LynneP]

Another product is called 'Dri-Kill' and is good for mites, lice, ticks, fleas for poultry and some mammals. It's often found at hardware stores as well as ag supply places, tack shops and co-ops. Occasionally you can get it at pet stores or in the pet supply departments of stores like Walmart. After you treat, it might be a good idea to offer a dust bath in the coop which contains sand and food-grade diatomaceous earth(DE), which is a preventive. If it is a pest, you might need to treat the others. These are both dry treatments, so must be done after she is clean and dry.

 

[ChandlersChickens]

Well DE I do have and I keep it in the nest and coop and food. So this must have happened before I bought that stuff.

I'll have to look for the Dri-Kill. Any ideas who sells it?

 

[LynneP]

I listed some places above for you, and I'm sure you'll find something suitable. If you get stuck, check with some other poultry owners nearby, they might be able to help out. Here, we'd check our local co-op, Home Hardware and the tack shops...

DE might not have been strong enough to prevent infestation unless you have a closed flock. Birds that free-range or who get in contact with wild birds can pick these up easily. Impossible to keep vent coated with DE all the time.