Hen with dirty behind feathers

[sday615]

This is butterscotch and she has dirty feathers under her vent, none of my other hens have it and I bathed her last week because I noticed her dirty behind and wasn't sure if it was normal and I read up on egg bound and stuff and thought maybe that could be why she was dirty she got cleaned up (LOVED the bath btw) and let me dry her up and seemed fine but it seems like she's not that interested in coming out of her coop/run area when I let them out to free range every afternoon and just seems kind of docile but maybe I'm being paranoid I'm not sure... Her skin around her bum looked a little red when I bathed her but it seemed less irritated afterwards...any ideas or thoughts? I'm really concerned I've never had an issue before her abdomen doesn't seem any different than the other btw so I don't think she's egg bound but I have only had 3 eggs everyday for probably a good month or so and I have 4 hens and I used to get 4 almost daily...if that means anything

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Dirty butt feathers can be a sign of mites or lice. But sometimes it just happens. I have a hen with the same looking bottom feathers. She has no parasites or illness.

 

[sday615]

Dirty butt feathers can be a sign of mites or lice. But sometimes it just happens. I have a hen with the same looking bottom feathers. She has no parasites or illness. 

Thank you! I'm always watching them for anything and may just be paranoid from reading up on things she's eating and drinking and it has been quite warm here. I will continue to keep an eye out for any signs I didn't notice lice or mites when I bathed her. Any idea on why I consistently only get 3 eggs when I used to get 4 most of the time at least, does that happen often?

 

[Mountain Peeps]

She is probably just slowing down. But, someone may come along on this thread and say otherwise.

 

[lraebel]

I have one like that as well. After 3-4 days of minor 'dirty-ness', today I noticed it was quite a bit worse. She was rather lethargic, but it's our first almost 90 degree day all summer and might just be the weather. I'm happy to give her a bath, but how? with what? She's older-- probably 4-5 yrs-- so is irregular with eggs.
Any suggestions is helpful!

 

[sday615]

I have one like that as well. After 3-4 days of minor 'dirty-ness', today I noticed it was quite a bit worse. She was rather lethargic, but it's our first almost 90 degree day all summer and might just be the weather. I'm happy to give her a bath, but how? with what? She's older-- probably 4-5 yrs-- so is irregular with eggs.
Any suggestions is helpful!

That was my first time giving her a bath so not an expert up I read up on it and ended up going with warm water in my utility tub in my laundry room and used a little dog soap to clean her up and then rinsed her and used a blow dryer on low to get her mostly dry lol she loved it and totally relaxed the whole time! I never knew chickens liked a bath!

 

[Suzie]

I would de-worm any chicken that had a dirty backside...chances are that this may be the cause if the chickens have not recently been treated

 

[sday615]

Ok, so something is def wrong, I went out to clean up their food and water and collect eggs before I run errands and she's out in the large run just laying down and her tail feathers are down I'm not sure how else to describe it I know I've read something about that before but of course I can't think of it now.

 

[sday615]

Also her comb does look slightly paler than the rest of the girls

 

[cafarmgirl]

I would de-worm any chicken that had a dirty backside...chances are that this may be the cause if the chickens have not recently been treated

X2 and that is where I'd start with this bird. Chickens can be very hard to diagnose so sometimes you just have to start with the most common and easily treated possibilities and go from there. I'd deworm her with Valbazen or Safeguard as well as check her very carefully for lice/mites.