messy looking chicken bottom

[agnes_day]

well, sunshine has been laying eggs for 3 days now, but shes just a mess in the back! she used to be all fluffy and everything but now, her bottom feathers are all nasty and dirty..is it normal for chickens to get like that when they first start laying? shes fine otherwise, but she looks so gross!
yesterday, she actually laid an egg in my sons lap while he was petting her!

 

[Heidi]

No, it's not normal. Chickens take great pride in preening and staying clean - well at least mine do. Does she have diarrhea? If so feed her some oatmeal. Did you check to see if she has mites? If that is the problem then you will have to dust her and everyone else, plus the coop. If it's not either of these problems you might want to just trim her back side a bit. Good luck.

 

[HorseFeathers]

We've noticed chickens with especially puffy butts get poop stuck in there, especially in cold weather. Phoebe has this and she's fine... just a bit messy on the backside.

 

[MakNat]

Mine get nasty butts too sometimes. I trim them up a bit..

 

[bietsch624]

Hi to all. I'm a first time poster and chicken lover. I have one of my 7 "girls" that just passed away. She layed eggs for a short period and then got a messy bottom. My husband and I kept Laura clean, but she kept to herself and seemed to be coming back around. Yesterday, I found her lying in the corner of the coop huddled down in the litter. I took her out by herself and put her in a box with litter and kept her warm over night. This morning she was gone. Both my husband and I are crushed. Does anyone have any ideas what might have happened to her?

 

[HorseFeathers]

As to your question, I'm not sure. Worms maybe?

 

[lyndatu]

My hens also get pasty butts in the rainy season here in the Philippines, but when I clean their butts up it doesn't get dirty anymore. Yes, Sunshine might have Diarreha(stop giving her veggie treats for a while and feed oatmeal).

As to bietsch624, the same thing happened to me. My little hen Rexie was happy and laying about, but suddenly she seems sick and has a pasty butt. We washed her butt, and the next day she looked ok again. Well, 7 months later, she hasn't laid ever since the day we washed her butt. She got sick again, but now I noticed red blood patches on her foot, and again a pasty butt. I washed her butt clean, but the next day she died. We cut her body open and we found a very old, rotting egg that was stuck in her for 7 months. The bacteria from the rotting egg must have made her very sick.

It might be caused by egg binding, where an egg gets stuck in the hen's vent and has a hard time laying it. The stuck egg might have clogged the poo and caused her to have a pasty butt. Just a theory, but I'm very sorry for your loss. I, too, was crushed when Rexie departed.

To cure egg binding, gently massage the hen's but in a way like your forcing something to come out. It should come out soon, but if this doesn't work, if the egg is visible in the vent, gently poke and break it with a pencil and very carefully remove the egg shell bits to prevent injury in her innards. Apply some bandage if some flesh stick out of her vent as the other chickens might peck on it.

Good luck!

 

[agnes_day]

i give them oatmeal every night but i dont know..maybe im overfeeding her? she never had this problem until the day she started laying eggs..it looks likes diarrhea...i did give them all some water with antibiotics the other day, when i thought they might catch something from my rooster that died. could that be it?

 

[agnes_day]

hmm..she just laid an egg that has blood on it, and i looked at her vent and its bruised! now im really worried

 

[swtangel321]

Quote:
She is a new layer and her body is getting use to it, sounds normal to me.

Also as far as the poop goes some that have lots of feather this will happen to, I see this once in a while in my flock, the poop will dry up and fall off, not a huge problem !!


Relax she is fine !!